A New Beginning
by Vinnie Bobbarino
Summary: The Jedi Order and the Sith Alliance are locked in a war that ravages the galaxy! In this distant future, heroes are made, unlikely alliances are forged, and tensions run at an all-time high! When an outcast gets shoved into the spotlight, his beliefs and methods clash with those around him. Starts slow, but it'll pick up over time.
1. Chapter 1

**Thank you for checking out my story! I hope you enjoy it! Please feel free to let me know where I can improve or what you would like to see, since I'm always looking to improve and would love to be able to add some stuff that you guys would like to see.**

* * *

**-0000-**

The crack of lightsabers rang through the training room. The green and blue blades were a blur as they slashed at each other. Fral grunted. He had tried to deflect the green blade and reply with a counterattack, but the force of the blow had eliminated any chance of countering. He was even more taken aback by the power and precision the opponent was fighting with. They had been going nonstop for over an hour, and even with the enhanced stamina he got from using the Force, the stamina the opponent had was impressive.

They heard the door close and the lightsabers immediately stopped in mid air. They both sheathed their sabers and turned their attention to Grand Master Sorsee, who smiled wryly.

"It seems the apprentice has become a match for the master."

Fral glanced at his opponent, who was covered with sweat. "He's a gifted duelist."

"Thank you Master."

"He is indeed. Master Joren, the SA has established a blockade around the Noreno system. We need your fleet to reestablish trade routes to ensure the people don't align with them."

"Can I help?"

"Darin, we go over this every time. No. Your Force powers are too weak."

"But I've worked on my lightsaber skill. I can-"

"NO. Jedi are Generals. And they have decided against letting you be a General."

Darin lowered his head. "I understand."

Grand Master Sorsee beckoned for Joren to follow him, and they both left the room.

"You need to discipline him. I would never allow a former apprentice to argue with me."

Fral sighed. "I understand. He means well."

"Meaning well is no excuse for acting poorly. It was a mistake to take him in. He's a danger."

"What danger could he pose? Barely any Force ability, no family, and no real friends here. He's an outsider."

"Not a danger to us. Only himself."

**-Darin-**

I stood in place and watched as the door closed behind the two Jedi. Fral Joren and Prale Sorsee don't have a clue. Why take me in if I wasn't allowed to fight? Why train me if it was all gonna go to waste? And why do I even bother practicing?

I picked up the practice sabers. I resent them at times. I know I'm not powerful with the Force. But I'm the most intelligent scholar they have, and the whole line about me being too weak to lead the clones is utter malarkey. I've excelled at dueling. I'm a smart guy. Pretty sure that qualifies me as having the capacity to be a good general.

I placed the sabers on the floor and concentrated, trying to use the Force to put them away. I've worked hard on my Force powers. The sabers wobbled on the floor, raised up a few feet, then dropped. I tried again and again, with the same result each time. Sighing, I put away the sabers and headed for the library.

* * *

The library was a vast room with massive shelves stretching from wall to wall and reaching all the way to the ceiling. The shelves seemed to have been added over time, which has resulted in a kind of maze one had to navigate. It had many desks stationed around the entrance where one could usually find Jedi younglings studying or learning about rituals, politics, and anything else one could think of. In the back was a set of intricately designed double doors which guarded the entrance to the holocron room.

I navigated through the maze of shelves until I found a table with documents littered around, a holoscreen with multiple pages on it, a new data file, and a lamp which was switched on. This was my corner. I could be isolated from the people and allowed to focus on research. Plus it acted as a way to avoid the stares I got from the majority of Jedi.

I grabbed the data file and opened it. It was a detailed report of the TAC that I had requested the droids put together for me. The Tactical Assault Cruiser, or TAC, was one of the newer vehicles that the Jedi had created. They claimed it was an upgrade from their old cruisers as it had more weapons and stronger armor. I call keck. I've seen the wreckage. They all fail similarly. I want to find out why.

The warning Master Joren gave me about asking too many questions and being too nosy suddenly ran through my head. I quickly dismissed it. I wasn't raised from birth in these halls. I was about 7 when I was found. I couldn't just 'not ask questions'. Sure it wasn't the Jedi way, but it was my way. I look at the blueprints and the explanation of the different components. It was definitely well armored. And the guns were top of the line. Looking through the descriptions, I couldn't really find a flaw. It had short legs, giving it better balance, a lower profile, and a solid center of gravity. It had very well centered weight, allowing it to have good balance and to fire some of it's much more powerful cannons while suffering less from the recoil. It even protected the underside. The back was where they deployed troops. They had a dual door system, where the inner door opened, troops went into the area, inner doors closed, and outer doors opened. It was slower, but was better protected from some of the SSA's attacks, which would involve attacking while the back was opened. I kept staring at the design, hoping something would pop out to me.

"Kravhenn!"

I jumped and found Gwel So, the librarian, standing right over me. She always did that. No sense of personal space.

"Yes ma'am?" The elderly Kel Dor beckoned for me to follow her.

"Pack your papers! You have a new workspace!"

Gwel was one of the few Jedi who liked me. And by liked I mean didn't completely write me off as an embarrassment to the Order. I quickly packed the papers into a folder, downloaded the holoscreen contents onto a data file, and shoved all the data files in a sack. I followed as she briskly maneuvered through the maze of shelves. Gwel was the head librarian and new the way around inside and out. Upon emerging from the maze, she led me to the main terminal.

"You got your card!?"

I pulled out my access card and she snatched it out of my hand. I watched as she slid it into a monitor and started pushing buttons. She yelled at everybody. Not necessarily because she hated everyone, though I suspect that may be a factor. No, she's just got partial hearing loss. It's a struggle for her to hear certain frequencies. It's why I can speak at my normal volume but she yells everything she says. She just can't hear herself speak.

The monitor let out a satisfying _ding _and she pulled out the access card.

"Congratulations! You've been promoted!"

I took the card and checked it out. Chief Scholar. It wasn't a huge step up, but it was still really cool. Instead of being the bottom of the ladder, I was now the top of the bottom.

Gwel pointed at the double doors that contained the holocrons.

"That's your workspace now! Nobody ever goes in there, so you'll still be a hermit!"

I nodded and walked over to the doors. I took a brief moment to stand and let it sink in. I got to be here. I earned this. I took a deep breath, and opened the doors.


	2. Chapter 2

**-Darin-**

The first thing that hit me was the dust. The entire place was covered in it. I sneezed almost immediately after closing the doors. The force of the sneeze created what looked like a miniature sandstorm. I watched as it flew around the room and eventually subsided.

This won't do. Not in the slightest. I walked out of the room and pushed a button requesting some cleaning droids. I stood there and waited by the doors until one of the droids came to me.

"This room needs to be dusted. Find me when you're done. I'll be at that desk over there." I pointed at an open desk that was tucked away in a corner. The droid beeped affirmatively and began cleaning. I grabbed my stuff and plugged the data file I'd requested into the desk. The holoprojection of the TAC popped up. I then pulled up the parts list, weapons list, armor rating, and all the other documents that were available to the mech droids. I began poring over the info. I was missing something, I could FEEL it.

Something beeped loudly and I practically jumped. It was the cleaning droid. I closed out of everything and took out the file. I looked around. I'd lost track of time. Again. The sun was no longer shining through the massive stained windows. Instead, the artificial light of Coruscant's city lit up the night sky. I reached into my pocket. The Jedi didn't normally put pockets on their robes, but I'd found some books and taught myself to sew. I pulled out some credits and handed them to the droid. The droid beeped in surprise and began thanking me.

"Yea yea. You're welcome. Treat yourself." The droid put the credits in a little storage compartment and wheeled off excitedly. I locked the door to the holocron room, made sure I had everything, and left the library. Exploring the holocrons would have to wait.

* * *

The Order provided us with a room, though we had to pay for rent and utilities. It was one of the perks of being a Jedi. It didn't sound like much, but housing was very limited in Coruscant. There were multiple buildings, each of which had a lot of different apartments. The younglings had their own building. Padawans usually were in the same building as their masters. There were multiple buildings dedicated to the average Jedi rank. The Council Members got their own building. And on and on. The rooms in the buildings were of similar quality, but quality between buildings differed drastically. The Scholars had one of the lowest quality buildings.

I reached my apartment building and took the lift to my floor. It moved painfully slow compared to the ones in the Temple. I used to live in a different building, but when I became a Scholar I had to move. Moving isn't very difficult. The Jedi Order doesn't like it's members to have too many personal possessions. I only cared as a Padawan.

I found my room and walked in. It was small and the walls were devoid of any decoration. There was a mat to one side and a bed to another. A small restroom could be seen to the right. A few datafiles lay on a table. I need to remember to return those. The room always had a dresser for robes, but I also had a closet where I kept a few coats and clothes I'd bought from the boutiques in the city. I had two jars on top of the dresser. One was full of chunks and one was full of slivers. I also had some mechanical scrap I would mess with. I took a seat at the table and emptied my bag. All the files and documents I placed to the side where the other datafiles were. This way I can actually remember to take them back. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my credits and the slivers I would find scattered randomly throughout the Hall. Slivers, chunks, and credits were the currency that the Order used, and that were used in all the systems that were a part of it. 100 slivers are equal to 1 chunk and 100 chunks are equal to 1 credit. The Jedi all got paid in credits. It was another one of the benefits of being part of the Order. And just like all the other benefits, they were based on rank. I made less than basically all other graduated Jedi. Significantly less. I made only enough to afford the essentials and to purchase the dust in the library. The cost of living here was atrocious.

I opened one of my clothes drawers and pulled out a small box. I opened it and turned it over on my bed. I watched a few credits fall out and bounce a little on the mattress. Their shiny surfaces reflected the light that shone through the window, giving them a gold glow and making them look like little suns in the otherwise dark room.

It wasn't gonna be enough for the rest of the month. I needed to get more credits.

I cursed myself. I need to stop giving credits away.

The droid got only slivers for cleaning garbage.

But I need it.

I have money. The few credits I handed the droid were probably how much that droid made all year. As far as I know I'm the only person who tips the droids.

What's done is done. Now I need to make sure I can pay for myself. I rifled through my closet until I found some street clothing, which consisted of a boring grey shirt and black pants. Why this was the average person's getup, I have no idea. I put a hooded cloak over top and found some gloves in the closet. Quietly, I opened the window. The windows don't normally open, but I made alterations to mine. I crawled through the window and got on the roof of the building right outside. I closed the window and ran across the roof. I spied a ledge on another building and jumped.

I slammed hard into the wall, but managed to keep hold of the ledge. I felt around for other hold points and made my way down the wall. I let go and dropped the last 6 meters. Once on the ground, I sprinted through the alleys until I found a large abandoned warehouse. A long line had formed outside the warehouse. A Gamorrean and a Trandoshan were guarding the door. I ignored the line and walked right up to the guards.

The Gamorrean stepped in front of me and grunted. The Trandoshan pointed at the line. "If you really want to sssskip the line, it'll cosssst ya."

I pulled off the hood. The Trandoshan recognized me and cackled. "Ohhh the bossss will be pleassssed."

He nodded at the Gamorrean to let me through.

"OH COME ON! YOU'RE LETTING HIM GO?!"

The Trandoshan hissed at the man in line. "He'sss the main attraction."

* * *

I made my way through the corridors until I came upon a female Twi'lek. She saw me and hurried my way.

"Bebo said you were coming. He's very pleased. He has some guests he wants to impress."

I nodded. "Do I have a new partner? My last one-"

"Yes yes they didn't make it." She checked a holoscreen. "We do indeed. Bebo gave you two the Gauntlet."

"Bebo better be willing to pay. The Gauntlet is more dangerous than anything else."

"Oh he will. As I said, he wants to impress. Give them a spectacle, and he may be paying you triple."

I nodded. "Where's my partner?"

She pointed to a door. As I was about to leave, she remembered something. "She doesn't know. You mind filling her in?"

I stopped cold. If this person doesn't know, then they're not prepared. If they aren't prepared, they may back out. Then I'm gonna have to solo the Gauntlet. Today gets better and better.

I managed to nod.

I entered the changing room. After changing, I went to the prep room to meet my new partner. The prep room was the room where last minute sparring, studying, strategy, planning, or praying occured. It was the last stop before the arena. There were a few people inside. Someone in Mandalorian armor was having a shooting contest with someone wearing some old-school Deathtrooper armor. A Lasat was wrestling a Wookie. My money's on the Wookie, but the Lasat is no pushover. A Kaleesh was sparring with a Tusken. One person was looking at maps. And one guy was sitting against a wall and trying not to get sick. He probably owed Bebo a debt or something and this was his payment. Please don't make me pair up with him. Please please please. Not him.

I cleared my throat. Everyone turned to me, and I suddenly became rather conscious of how I looked.

"I was told that one of you was my partner." I managed to say this without my voice shaking. So far, so good.

The Mandalorian holstered her guns and walked my way. Everyone else resumed their activities.

From the figure, I assume that my new partner is a female. I also assume that she's Mandalorian. Then again, I have similar looking armor and I'm native to Coruscant.

Her armor was mainly orange and blue, but had some green and red mixed throughout. It had intricate designs in it that I never could have replicated. The jetpack was also colorful. I've never seen Mandalorians decorate their armor that way. Makes for an easier target in a majority of biomes. She took the helmet off. She was much younger than I expected. She looked to be about my age, maybe a little younger. Her dark brown hair was cut just short enough so that it wouldn't reach past her helmet, but still covered part of her face. Another odd choice. The hair could get in her eye, messing with her accuracy. Maybe it's a family tradition?

She stood about fifteen centimeters below me. She had two blasters, one on each hip, and wore the gauntlets Mandalorians usually wore in combat.

"I'm Sadie. Sadie Wren."

I nodded. "Darin. Darin Kravhenn."


	3. Chapter 3

**-Sadie-**

"Nice to meet you, Darin Darin Kravhenn."

He smiled slightly. "Great. Someone like me."

He looked at the guy sitting against the wall. "I was expecting to be paired with him."

"Well, you got an upgrade."

"I hope so."

We walked to a table and sat opposite each other. We each placed our masks on the table.

I'm slightly hesitant of him. His color scheme seems to be black on black on black, which is not a very appealing combination. It's so dark. It gives him a kind of "lone wolf" vibe, which isn't a good thing. We need to work together to survive.

His armor gave the only pop of color. And by pop of color I mean they were a really dark grey. I studied his mask. It was the same color as his armor. The design was Mandalorian, which was odd because he most definitely was not Mandalorian. His whole thing seemed to be intimidation. That's a problem. If he relies on intimidation, then how good is he really?

"Where'd you get the armor?"

He smiled. "Kinda figured you'd recognize it. Its Mandalorian iron."

Damn politician. "You didn't answer my question."

"It was here on my first day. Guy in the armor got caught in a defoliator blast. Armor was fine. He wasn't. I took it."

I nodded. Kinda dark, but made sense.

He suddenly leaned down all serious like. "Which events have you done?"

"Tank Takedown, Clanker Cleanup, Mist Monster, the general 1v1, you know. You?"

He ignored my question. I was liking this guy less and less. "Why? You seem worried."

"Bebo gave us the Gauntlet."

"WHAT?! NONONONONONONO."

"He's paying triple."

"I DON'T CARE! THAT'S SUICIDE!"

"People survive it."

"The elite warriors survive it. WE AREN'T ELITE!" HOW THE HELL IS HE SO CALM ABOUT THIS?

"If we don't do it, we'll be banned and possibly hunted down."

"You're not hearing me. It's suicide!"

"There are patterns."

I laughed. Patterns. That was the most stupid thing I've ever heard. "It's random! The spectators get to choose what we do. How can there possibly be a pattern?!"

"They vote between options. Options Bebo chooses. This allows us to maximize the probability."

"It's your funeral."

I grabbed my helmet and got out of the chair.

"It's not the Mandalorian way to quit."

I stopped and turned around. "I'm sorry?"

"Mandalorian code of honor. You lose your honor and disgrace your family name if they learn of this."

I slammed my hands on the table. "You know nothing of Mandalorian custom. And you don't know me. I don't care if I lose my place. I left them years ago."

He seemed unfazed by the anger in my voice. "Yet you lived in that society for a long time, did you not? I can tell from the slight accent. It is part of you. Whether you want to admit it or not."

I hated him. I hated his face. I hated the tone of his voice. But most of all I hated that he was right. And he knew it. I wanted to punch him so badly.

"If we work together, we can study the patterns and trends. The Gauntlet runs last. We have time to prepare."

I stared angrily at him.

"We can survive this."

I tried so hard to say no, but I caved. "Fine. I'll do it."

* * *

The next few hours went by painfully slowly. PAINFULLY slowly. It wasn't really Darin's fault. I have fire in my blood.

After what seemed like eons, it was time for the Gauntlet. We both stood outside the doors of the arena.

Suddenly I thought of something. I reached into a pocket and grabbed a chip.

"Here. Gimme your helmet."

Darin looked at me with confusion, but gave it to me. I placed it in the helmet and gave it back. "Now we can communicate through the helmet."

He nodded. "Good thinking."

We stood there and waited. Finally, I heard the announcer.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WE'VE ALL SEEN SOME FANTASTIC BATTLES TONIGHT, BUT IT IS TIME FOR A REAL TREAT. IT IS TIME FOR THE GAUNTLET!" Cheering erupted through the stadium. "AS YOU ALL KNOW, THE GAUNTLET IS CHOSEN BY YOU, FOR YOU. AND TONIGHT IS NO EXCEPTION. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE UNFAMILIAR WITH THIS, THE GAUNTLET IS FOUR ROUNDS. EACH ROUND IS RANDOM. THE SELECTION IS BASED ON WHAT WE HAVE IN STOCK, SO EVERY DAY CAN BE SOMETHING NEW. EACH ROUND IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. THIS IS NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO TRY AT HOME." A slight chuckle could be heard rumbling through the audience. "EACH ROUND ALSO HAS A FEW EXTRAS THAT YOU CHOOSE. THIS CAN EITHER HELP OR HURT THE FIGHTERS. THOSE WHO ARE CHOSEN FOR THE GAUNTLET ARE SOME OF OUR MOST ELITE. THIS IS THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE FOR THEM. THEY WILL GAIN GLORY AND FAME… OR DIE. ON THAT HAPPY NOTE, IT IS TIME TO PRESENT THE DUO WHO IS TAKING ON THE GAUNTLET TONIGHT. THE FIRST IS A RATHER NEW FIGHTER WHO HAS PROVEN HERSELF AS BEING MORE THAN CAPABLE IN A FIREFIGHT. SHE'S A FEISTY MANDALORIAN FIGHTER WHO MAKES DEADLY USE OF EVERYTHING IN HER ARSENAL.. I PRESENT TO YOU, SADIE WREN!" The doors opened and I stepped into the arena. Thunderous applause rang through the stands.

"AND FOR HER PARTNER, WE HAVE A LEGEND IN THE ARENA. ONE OF THE GREATEST TO STEP FOOT. IN HIS LAST ATTEMPT ON THE GAUNTLET, HE LOST HIS PARTNER IN THE THIRD ROUND. IN THE FOURTH ROUND, HE SINGLE HANDEDLY TOOK DOWN 50 GAMORREAN GUARDS AND A RANCOR!"

No way. HE was the one who soloed the Rancor?

"HIS APPEARANCES IN THE ARENA ARE RARE, BUT ALWAYS EXHILARATING. I PRESENT TO YOU, DARIN KRAVHENN!"

He calmly stepped out and stared at the wall, seemingly oblivious to the hoards of screaming people.

I spoke through the helmet. "Testing testing."

"I read ya."

"Why didn't you tell me you're the Rancor guy?"

"If I did, you wouldn't listen during the probability stuff."

He had a point. "You know, I really didn't listen anyways."

He laughed. "I figured. You fell asleep a few times."

"Why do you rarely battle? You could make a lot more credits if you participated more often."

"I hate fighting in the arena. There's no cause. I only do it out of necessity."

"I know what you mean. I feel the same."

"FOR THE FIRST ROUND, YOU GUYS VOTED, AND THEY WILL BE GETTING A BOX OF RANDOM WEAPONS!"

A box dropped into the middle of the arena. Darin sighed. "Could be worse."

"Could be better."

"THEY'LL NEED TO MAKE EVERY WEAPON COUNT IN THIS ROUND. TO START OFF THE CHALLENGE, OUR TWO FIGHTERS WILL BE TAKING ON A DRAGON SLUG!"

"You faced these before?"

"No never. But we went over these. Remember what I said!"

I didn't remember. I had no idea.

"No. I don't remember."

"NATIVE TO HOTH AND CORULAG, THESE SLUGS CAN GROW TO BE ABOUT 20 METERS ON AVERAGE. THEY HAVE ARMORED SKIN AND CAN BREATHE FIRE!"

I heard a disgusting squelchy screech coming from the other side. The slug was being brought to the doors. We ran to the middle to check out the weapons. Darin grabbed a circular shield. I grabbed for a large repeater cannon, but he stopped me.

"Those shots won't pierce it's skin. And it's not very mobile." He reached for a bowcaster and tossed it to me. "This baby packs a punch. Don't try to blind it. It's eyes are vestigial."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means they're useless."

I nodded as if I understood. Why it would have eyes that were useless is beyond me. "What about you?"

He lifted the shield. "This is all I get. I'm counting on you to do the damage. I'm distracting it."

"You're suicidal."

"Suicidal, strategic, same difference."

I heard the door open and got my first real look at the slug. It was a horrid green thing with an opening on one end that I assumed was a mouth. Over the mouth hole were two beady dots that I assumed were its eyes. The rest was just a big squishy mess. It squealed at the top of its lungs. The high pitched noise will probably haunt me in my worst nightmares. It wriggled into the arena, and the door was closed. It then began to snake its 20 meter long body toward us.

"FLY!"

He didn't need to tell me twice. I kicked my jetpack into gear and soared far above the action. I watched as Darin calmly unsheathed his sword and watched as the beast came at him.

No wonder he was a hit. He was nuts.

The slug lifted itself off the ground like a cobra and squealed directly at Darin in an attempt to intimidate him. Darin calmly pointed his sword at it. The slug drew it's head back and unleashed a torrent of flames. A devastating wave of fire consumed the arena.

"Shoot. Now!"

I had no idea if he was still alive. I couldn't imagine how we could have managed that. Maybe I was hearing voices. Whatever it was, it sounded like a pretty good idea. I aimed for a spot between it's tiny little eyes on top of its head and fired.

The bowcaster kicked like no gun I'd ever used before. The shot hit the giant booger right where it was supposed to. It aimed its head towards me and started blowing its white hot flames in my direction. I could feel it licking on my heels as I barely dodged the inferno. I glanced down and noticed that the stupid bastard was not just alive, but running at the slug. His sword and shield were glowing bright red. He looked kind of like the bad guy in those propaganda movies the Order makes where the Jedi fight the Sith. As I kept dodging more fire, I watched as he ran up the side of the slug, who felt this and turned its attention towards him. It began bucking wildly in an attempt to get Darin off. With the elegance of a tightrope walker, he maneuvered up the slug until he reached the little hole in its armor that I created. He plunged the sword in the soft spot, quickly pulled it out, and jumped off.

It let out a deafening scream. After a few seconds of writhing on the floor and screaming, it started quivering and, finally stopped. A crew of people came out of the doors and started dragging the body away.

I dropped to the ground next to Darin. "How'd you know that you'd survive the fire?"

He shrugged. "I didn't."

"You're insane."

"Good. Nice shot."

"Thanks."

"WHAT A SPECTACULAR PERFORMANCE! THE DRAGON SLUG WAS NO MATCH FOR OUR TWO HEROES!"

"We're heroes now?"

"He wants to make us look better so our deaths are more glorious."

"Ah."

"THE SECOND ROUND WILL BE MUCH MORE CHALLENGING. FOR THE EXTRA, YOU VOTED, AND THE HEROES WILL BE FACING 50 GAMORREAN GUARDS ALONG WITH THE MAIN EVENT. SPEAKING OF WHICH OUR HEROES WILL BE FACING TWO RATHTARS!"

Darin suddenly started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"The Gamorreans are usually a negative. But here they will help. This is one of the dumbest groupings I've ever seen."

Why this is so funny, I don't know. Smokey Joe must have some screws loose.

"FOR THOSE WHO LIVE UNDER A BRIDGE, THE RATHTAR IS A CARNIVOROUS CEPHALOPOD THAT IS WIDELY REGARDED AS ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS BEASTS IN THE GALAXY. THESE PACK HUNTERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TRILLIA MASSACRE. THEY HAVE MULTIPLE POINTED TENTACLES WITH STICKY PADS THAT THEY USE TO GRAB PREY AND STUFF IT INTO ITS RAVENOUS MOUTH, WHICH IS LINED WITH ROWS OF RAZOR SHARP TEETH. POSSESSING INCREDIBLE STRENGTH AND SPEED, THESE MONSTERS ARE HEAVILY RESISTANT TO BLASTER FIRE AND MOST OTHER WEAPONRY. OUR BRAVE WARRIORS WILL NEED TO COME UP WITH ALTERNATE METHODS OF DAMAGING THE BEASTS."

"You ever faced one?"

"No."

"Well do you have a plan?"

Darin looked at me. "Do YOU have a plan?"

"You're the master."

"No. I've managed not to die yet."

"Same thing, really."

The doors on the other side opened, and 50 Gamorrean guards ran out.

"That's… a lot more than I thought."

He snickered. "That's what I thought too."

I watched as the Gamorreans charged towards us. I started running at them, but a hand shot out and stopped me.

"Don't. Wait."

I knocked his hand away angrily, but stayed put. "Don't do that again."

A deep rumbling could be felt through the arena. A horrid shrieking came from the other side. The Gamorreans faltered, then started running our way again, this time with terror in their ugly pig faces.

"We use the Gamorreans. Blasters are ineffective. Grab an axe when you can. I'll try to get you one as well."

Sounded solid. "What do we slice?"

"Haven't thought that far yet."

I saw the two ugly balls roll into the arena and… unravel. Their tentacles flew out and their screaming filled the arena as they began grabbing the Gamorreans and stuffing them into their mouths.

"THINK FASTER!"

"The tentacles. Cut the tentacles. That should immobilize them." He sprinted in the direction of the rathtars.

"Should?!" Great. I wanted to stay as far away from these things as possible.

I sprinted after him. Probably a bad idea. Dude wanted to die.

"Hold back. Shoot anything that tries to kill me. And try not to shoot me."

"No promises."

I slowed down and watched as he ran right at the closest rathtar. They'd managed to loosely corner the Gamorreans and were picking them off one by one. I finally noticed what he was trying to get. About 2 meters away from one of the rathtars lay a couple axes the Gamorreans had dropped. Quickly darting through the tentacles, he slid on the ground, grabbed an axe, and sprinted back to me. One of the rathtars noticed him and began trying to catch him. I aimed the bowcaster and fired a few times. Each shot hit a tentacle. They recoiled just enough for him to slip through and run back to me. A brave Gamorrean tried to attack the rathtar, which pulled its attention off of Darin. That brave piggy died heroically. He reached me and dropped the axe.

"Took you long enough."

He ignored me and tried to catch his breath. I picked up the axe. Thing was heavier than I imagined. There was no way that I could wield the damn thing.

"Uhmm, Darin?"

He glanced at me and shook his head.

"I already figured that out. I'll use that." He pulled out his sword and gave it to me. "You'll use this."

I took the sword. It was made with Mandalorian iron and was very well balanced. I swung it around a few times to test it out. It was really light and easy to use. "I don't know how to use a sword."

"You know how to aim for something?"

"Yea."

"You know how to swing your arm up and down?"

"Yes."

"That's all you need to know. You don't have to be a Jedi."

Makes sense.

"I think I'll keep it."

"Like hell you are."

He grabbed the axe and started walking towards the rathtars. Our time was up. The last Gamorreans squealed as they were stuffed into the rathtars gaping mouths. They turned to us. I noticed that a few of the tentacles were partly gone. I guess the Gamorreans had the same idea Darin did. Hopefully we would fare better.

The rathtars came at us with surprising speed.

"Get ready!"

I grabbed the sword and ran at them.

"What are you doing?!"

"I learn from the best." Hopefully he would follow along.

The rathtars stopped and shot out their tentacles at me. I dodged them and started chopping the tentacles off. I was doing really well. Maybe there was a method to Darin's madness.

I heard something whizz behind me, followed by liquid spilling all over my back and a horrific shriek. Then a shield flew in front of me and smacked the rathtar in the head.

"Get out of there!"

I flew up and surveyed the arena. A rathtar had managed to sneak up behind me. All of its tentacles were lopped off. An axe was on the wall, glistening with rathtar blood. The other rathtar was chasing Darin, who was running towards the corner where the Great Gamorrean Massacre took place.

"It's time for a plunging attack."

"A what?"

"Drop on the rathtar coming at me and bury the sword in the head."

"But it's moving. How do I…"

I saw him get grabbed by the rathtar. Why. Why does he do this.

Here goes nothing. I flew directly at the rathtar, cut the jetpack, and stabbed it. The sword went hilt deep into its head. Its tentacles went limp and Darin scrambled out and ran to the axes. He picked one up, spun around twice, and let go. It went clean through the second rathtar, killing it instantly. I pulled the sword out of the head and gave it to Darin, blood and all.

"I'm starting to think you enjoy almost dying."

"I'm an adrenaline junkie." He wiped the sword on his pant leg, smearing the blood all over his leg. Gross.

"FANTASTIC DISPLAY! I DARE SAY THESE TWO MAY BE INVINCIBLE! BUT MAYBE THE THIRD ROUND WILL PROVE TO BE MORE CHALLENGING. FOR THE EXTRA, YOU HAVE DECIDED THAT THE ARENA WILL BE COVERED IN A DENSE FOG! A PERFECT PLACE TO HIDE FOR THE HUNTER… AND THE PREY. AND WHO WILL THEIR HUNTERS BE? WELL, WE HAVE A PACK OF VORNSKR!"

"Oh no."

I glanced at Darin. This was the first time I sensed any fear in him. Rathtars, nothing. Dragon slug, nothing. But… these?

"THE VORNSKR ARE NOT VERY INTIMIDATING AT FIRST. STANDING AT ABOUT ONE METER TALL AND TWO METERS LONG, THESE PACK HUNTERS ARE KNOWN FOR BEING VICIOUS PREDATORS IN THEIR HABITATS! CAPABLE OF RUNNING AT INCREDIBLE SPEED, THEY LEAVE NO CHANCE OF ESCAPE. AND HOW DO THEY FIND THEIR PREY? WELL, WHILE THEIR SENSES OF SMELL AND SIGHT ARE MORE THAN CAPABLE, THEY ARE ALSO ABLE TO SENSE THE FORCE IN OTHER BEINGS, ALLOWING THEM TO PICK APART THEIR PREY WITH FANTASTIC EFFICIENCY!"

The arena began filling with fog.

"Sadie." He was definitely shaken. "Sadie I need you to trust me here. Do everything as I say and don't doubt me."

"What's gotten over you? Afraid of a couple little puppies?" I elbowed him playfully. "Come on, this'll be easy."

He grabbed my arm. Hard. "This isn't funny. It'll be easy for you. I'm taking the heat here. The whole pack is gonna hunt for me."

What? "Didn't you hear the guy? They'll split up. We'll both get six. Easy."

He shook his head. "No. Nonono. All will go for me."

"Why? You're not that great of a catch."

"I'll explain later. Do your gauntlets shoot flames?"

"Duh."

The door on the other side began opening. I have to admit, the silence was unnerving.

"We need to stick together. Back to back."

I sighed. "Fiiiiiiiiiine."

An orchestra of howls filled the arena.

"They've found us."

"How do you know?" I noticed shadows starting to darken in the fog. "Don't answer that." The shadows slowly got bigger. One, two, three, four, five. So there must be seven behind me.

"Flamethrower."

I pointed the flamethrower at the shadows and let loose. The shadows darted away. I turned and shot a net to slow a few of them for Darin. He quickly took them down. Two down. I turned and found three of them trying to sneak up on me. As soon as they realized I knew where they were they retreated. I managed to shoot one in the leg.

"How's it going?"

"Not well."

I turned and saw that six of them were surrounding him. Before I could do anything, one of them jumped in between us, knocking me backwards. I saw the vornskr start to attack Darin, who managed to parry them off and injure a few. Before I could help, I felt a weight slam into my back, knocking me to the ground. Two more jumped on me. I struggled to get them off, but they had me pinned down. Their claws dug into any exposed skin as they tried to rip my armor off and tear me apart.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. This is it. This is where I die.

Out of nowhere, the three vornskr were thrown off of me as if they got hit by a transport ship. I struggled up and grabbed my balsters. The vornskr were disoriented. This was my chance. A few shots and the three were dead. I turned around. Darin was drowning in vornskr. They were all over him. I don't know how he was still standing. He had lost his sword and was punching the vornskr. I couldn't use my flamethrower or else I'd burn Darin. But if I used the blasters I might hit him. It was clear that he would lose if I didn't help. I raised my blaster and trusted my gut. I quickly pulled the triggers.

The shots hit their targets. Every one. The vornskr dropped like flies around him. I let him scramble out of the pile, then I finished the job.

"You look like keck." He really did. His clothes were in tatters and his armor was cracked in some areas. His helmet had a massive gash in it. I could see part of his face through the hole. He was covered in blood. His face, arms, legs.

"You don't look so great yourself."

I looked down and realized that I was also bleeding. I just didn't look nearly as bad as he did. The fog began dissipating.

"INCREDIBLE! THEY SURVIVED ANOTHER ROUND. THOUGH NOT UNSCATHED, I MUST SAY. FOR OUR FINAL ROUND, THERE IS NO EXTRA. IT IS DIFFICULT ENOUGH AS IS. BEBO HAS BEEN ABLE TO SNAG A REAL TREAT. THEY WILL BE FACING A TAC!"

"What's a TAC?"

"War weapon."

"THE TAC IS A TOP OF THE LINE WEAPON THE ORDER USES IN THE WAR AGAINST THE SA. WE'RE NOT HERE FOR GALACTIC POLITICS THOUGH. WE'RE HERE FOR BATTLE! I DO NOT BELIEVE I NEED TO GIVE AN EXPLANATION HERE. I WILL LET ITS PERFORMANCE IN THE ARENA SPEAK FOR ITSELF!"

"So we get to fight a tank. Fantastic."

"It's not as overpowered as they make it out to be."

"You've faced it before?"

"No. But I've studied it. It has a weakness."

"Perfect. What is it?"

"Wasn't able to figure that out yet."

"Well that's just great."

The TAC walked into the arena, and my heart did a little tap-dance. The thing was massive. It had short thick metal legs, a huge laser on top of it, and plenty of blasters on it.

Darin pulled out his blaster and a few little attachments and gave it to me.

"It has a weak point somewhere. Use this."

I looked at the blaster. He'd turned his blaster into a rifle. That's awesome. I've gotta get me one of these.

The TAC started to slowly make its way toward us. It aimed its laser at us and fired. I flew up to dodge it and began scoping out the TAC. It started blasting at us with its anti-infantry turrets. I had to keep moving in order to not die. This made scoping out the tank a bit of a challenge. A quick glance told me that Darin wasn't faring much better. He was rolling all over the place. A blaster bolt grazed my shoulder and I dropped the gun. I tried to dive to grab it but blaster fire cut me off.

Wait a minute. "Darin, do the turrets move?"

"About 135 degrees." He paused. "Don't try it. There aren't any blind spots."

Shoot.

"I'm gonna scan it with my helmet."

"You can do that?"

"Yea. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Just scan it."

A quick scan showed what I already guessed. It had really really good armor.

Wait a second.

"The weakest points are at the joints. When they're exposed, you'll have a shot. Lemme show you."

I locked onto the areas. They'll stay scanned for a bit. I transmitted the info to Darin's helmet.

"Woah woah woah. Wait. Ok. I see it!"

I began trying to attract as much attention as possible to get blaster fire on me so Darin had a clean shot. Unfortunately, it worked a little too well. I was being swarmed. I really hope Darin doesn't take his time. I'm getting cornered. Too much longer and I would be fried.

Suddenly, the TAC erupted in a ball of fire. I dropped to the ground and tried to avoid the flaming debris that was raining down like confetti. Darin was holding his blaster. He glanced at me and smiled. "Didn't I ask you to use this?"

"I strategically dropped it knowing you would need it." I looked at the burning wreckage. "Why the enormous fireball?"

"I found the weakness. One of the exposed points gives a straight shot to the fuel tank." We jumped as a hunk of metal as big as I was dropped right in between us

"THEY DID IT! OUR VALIANT FIGHTERS HAVE TAKEN DOWN A TAC! THEY'VE SUCCEEDED WHERE THOUSANDS HAVE FAILED! THEY HAVE CONQUERED THE GAUNTLET!"

We did it. Holy keck.

"THIS HAS BEEN A TREMENDOUS PERFORMANCE! WHAT A FINALE! I HOPE EVERYBODY HAS A GOOD NIGHT AND WE WILL SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!" People began filing out of the arena.

"Oh man. We did it. We did it! We did it!"

Darin just looked at me and smiled. "Yea we did. Come on." We left through the same doors we entered through. A Twi'lek greeted us. "Congratulations on your victory!"

"Thanks. Hey. Tell Bebo that the cut changed. Make it 25-75." The Twi'lek nodded and walked to the side to talk to Bebo.

I looked at Darin in surprise. He looked at me and smiled. "Consider it a signing bonus. You've more than earned it."

I was speechless. This was the last thing I expected.

"I… I don't know what to say. Thank you. Thank you so much."

"No problem."

"Ahem." The Twi'lek was back. "Bebo has requested your presence. Please leave your weapons here."

I glanced at Darin. He looked just as confused as I did. Bebo never asked to see people.

He put his sword and blasters in his locker. I followed suit and put my blasters in my locker.

"Alright. Let's go." We followed the Twi'lek to the lift.


	4. Chapter 4

**-Sadie-**

The first thing that hit me when I entered Bebo's suite was the smell. It was obvious that he had tried to mask his own natural scent with something more pleasant. Unfortunately, with him being a Hutt, that was no small feat. The result was a pungent mix of some weird plant scents and Hutt odor, which made me wish Darin had his sword so I could cut my nose off.

The room was huge. One side of the wall was dominated by a large screen which showed the arena up close. The other side was dominated by the massive grey blob known as Bebo.

He waved one of his pudgy arms at us to enter and made some noises. A protocol droid poked his head out from behind the pile of filth.

"Master Bebo would like to congratulate you two on surviving."

Bebo hit his tail against the ground and made more noises. I noticed that his tail had gold rings on various parts of his tail that were meant to make it look thin. Unfortunately, all they did was create obvious breaks in the flesh that made it look like a meat skewer.

I regret thinking that. Never eating skewers again.

"He would also like to thank you for putting on a fantastic performance for his special guest."

A door opened behind us and a large besalisk stepped in. And I mean large. He looked to be about 3 meters tall and each of his four muscular arms was carrying a large case. He smiled at us, showing off his pointy chompers.

"Greetings." His gruff voice had the air of authority.

Darin didn't seem intimidated at all by the four-armed beast. "Hello there."

The besalisk ignored him and placed each of the cases next to Bebo. "The down payment as promised. My Lord does not disappoint." He opened one of the cases and I saw rows upon rows of credits inside the case.

"Woah." I couldn't help it. It was a fortune.

The besalisk seemed to hear my murmur and chuckled. "Indeed. We pay well to get what we want."

The way he said that sent a chill up my spine.

Darin coughed. "I don't know if your servant told you, but the cut has changed. I'm getting 25% and she gets 75%."

The besalisk smirked as if he found this funny.

Bebo grunted a few times. "Bebo says-"

The besalisk cut off the droid. "I know what Bebo said. It's time for me to get what I came for."

He turned to Darin. Suddenly, a bolt of electricity arced out of one of his hands and hit Darin in the chest. He dropped to the ground and cried out in pain. I jumped back and reached for my blasters. I came up empty. Of course. We left our weapons in the locker room.

As I began looking for escape, he said "Relax, Mandalorian. I'm not here for you. Just the Jedi."

Darin? A Jedi? That can't be. He doesn't have a lightsaber. "You've made a mistake. He's not a Jedi."

He chuckled. "I made no mistake. He gave himself away in the vornskr battle."

The vornskr. How did he…

The pieces clicked. That's why he was worried. That's why they preferred him. That's why the vornskr were knocked off of me. That's also why he knew about the TAC. But if they liked force-sensitives, and Jedi are force-sensitive, then why'd I even get attacked? Was it because we were back to back?

I turned my attention to the besalisk, who was clearly enjoying watching Darin suffer. "Who are you?"

"I am Darth Grellan." He stopped shooting electricity at Darin, who was lying motionless on the ground.

"Is he dead?"

"No. We need him alive. We have a little… experiment planned for him. Which will most likely kill him."

"What if it doesn't?"

"Then my master will have a powerful weapon."

Bebo grunted a few times.

"You have nothing to worry about. If by some miracle he survives, we will wipe his memory. He will not remember you. You are safe."

The Hutt smiled and waved his hand for Grellan to leave. The massive besalisk grabbed Darin's motionless body and easily hoisted it over his shoulder.

"Nice to meet you, Mandalorian. Congratulations on your victory." With that, he left.

Bebo turned his attention to me and gave off some loud grunts. The Twi'lek appeared and grabbed the top case. She handed it to me and I took it without acknowledging her. Bebo grunted. "Bebo apologizes for the display. This is the first time it has happened. He says that the entire cut is yours. Congratulations on the victory. He hopes to see you in the arena again. You are free to go." I made my way to the lift almost in a daze. I had so many questions.

After a quick ride, I got out of the lift and headed to the locker room. I saw Darin's open locker with his sword on the bench.

I expected anger to come up. The Jedi ruined my life. I've spent most of my life hating them. But to my surprise, the anger didn't come to me. Instead, I felt guilt.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. I should hate them. I should hate him.

Why do I feel guilty?

I grabbed the sword, stuffed it into his locker, and slammed it shut. I then walked over to my locker and began taking my armor off. When I put my helmet on the top shelf, I grabbed a chip. I plugged it into my gauntlet and a picture of three people came up. It was a picture of me with my parents. I had this picture ingrained in memory. Me with my little braid smiling wide to show off my missing tooth. My mom and dad sitting around me. Her blue eyes the same color as her armor. Her light brown hair was cut in the same way mine was. My dad had his arm around us both, as of he was shielding us from all danger. His orange armor was the same color as the little dress I wore. We were all sitting outside our home. I remember that home. My room, with all the dye and paper. I'd make terrible paintings that mom would put on the fridge. Dad reading me bedtime stories about candy houses, evil dragons, large plants that led to the heavens, and of people that lived in the trees.

But they were gone. This is all I had left of them. Memories and a picture.

"I miss you guys." My voice cracked a little and I could feel a burning in my eyes. "I need help." I stared at the smiling faces and wiped away a tear.

"What should I do? I'm not brave, or smart, or strong. I'm not like you."

I looked at the case of credits. "I made some money."

"No, I'm not proud of it."

"I don't know if it was worth it."

"Because I can take care of grandpa."

"But they ruined everything."

"What would you do?"

I took a deep breath. I'm not crazy. I know the picture doesn't respond. But I can imagine the responses. It gives me some comfort.

I put the picture away but kept the chip. If I die, I'm dying with it. I wiped the tears away. This is a terrible idea. I put my armor back on and put my blasters in the holsters.

I looked in Darin's locker. Why am I doing this? I grabbed his blaster with all its mod pieces. If I live, I'm keeping this thing. I took the sword and closed the locker. When I had everything, I ran outside. I knew where Bebo's ship was. I ran to the private yard. The guards were asleep. Perfect. I snuck through the yard and got aboard the ship. It was this large fancy luxury craft that probably cost way too much. I darted through the halls and into the cockpit. I mentally ran through what I could remember from school. Gas is good. Hyperdrive was actually pretty fast. After checking a few other systems, I pulled off my helmet and took out a little chip. I inserted it and after a second a map came up with a blip. That's where Darin's helmet was. Good thing I gave him that chip. I turned the ship on and took off after the blip.

**-Darin-**

"... the chip?"

"Don't insert it during the procedure. We're running low. Only insert the chip if he survives. We need to conserve our resources."

I moved my head. My vision was blurred. Every part of my body ached. I groaned in pain. I was lying on my back on a table. I was strapped down.

A face came into view. A male Zeltron smiled down at me.

"I trust Grellan treated you well?"

It hurt to talk. "Quite the charmer."

The man laughed. "My apprentice has a way with words." He started walking around. I followed him with my eyes. "You know, he promised me that you were strong. Yet you are one of the weakest 'Force-sensitive' organisms I've ever met."

"Thanks."

"No matter. I have sent him on his way. He is needed for some other matters."

"Why am I here? I don't know anything."

The Zeltron laughed again. "You misinterpret my intentions. I'm not here to get information. I have enough of that. I'm here to experiment on you."

My blood went cold. "What kind of experiment?"

He took a seat on the table. "The culmination of my research. I have studied the dark side for more years than I can count."

"Can you stop monologuing and just get to the point."

"Feisty, are we? Fine. I am going to attempt something. Something monumental. I am going to attempt to create a being of ultimate power with the Force. Think of it like a… a midichlorian infusion. Followed by something that you can think of as the upgrading of these midichlorians."

"You're an idiot. Why create someone who would destroy you?"

He smiled darkly. "Oh they won't. A chip will be inserted. A chip giving me complete control of that person. Well, person isn't right. You lose all your memories. You become totally and utterly mine."

"And if it fails?"

"You die. Do not worry. We are finishing preparations. The procedure takes very little time. You will be conscious the whole time. I promise you, it will be the worst pain you will feel."

A door opened, and some doctors entered.

"Ah. They have arrived. Good bye, Darin."

A doctor lifted up my left sleeve to expose my arm. One of the other doctors grabbed a machine and pressed it on the inside of my left forearm. I cried out from the burning pain.

They pulled it off, and I breathed in relief. "That it? That wasn't so bad."

The Zeltron chuckled. "They haven't even started."

A contraption was pulled up and placed on me. I could feel needles poking my arms, legs, and torso.

"Three, two, one."

All the needles buried themselves into me at once and injected their serums. I screamed in agonizing pain as my body was pumped full of the liquid.

**-Sadie-**

I came out of hyperspace to find a large cruiser just sitting in the middle of nowhere. The signal came from in there.

A transmission came in from the ship asking me to identify myself. This is so stupid. I ignored it and parked the small ship on a port and got out. There's bound to be heavy resistance. I put my helmet and got to the door

I closed my eyes. I'm so dumb. I opened the door and jumped out into the hallway. No blaster fire. I guess they haven't assimilated their forces yet. Good. I marked the location on my map and sprinted through the hallways. Some stocky creatures I have never seen before were standing idly. When they saw me, they hurriedly pulled out blasters, but it was too late. I shot through them and kept running. I ran until I found the door where the signal led. I barged through the door to find… another hallway. I ran into the hallway.

**-0000-**

The male Zeltron looked at the body on the table. The procedure was complete. He waited for signs of life.

"Sir, we're under attack. We believe its pirates."

He cursed. Damn them all.

"Doctors! Take all the machinery and put it in the safe room. Hide. You are not safe. I will send forces to deal with this pirate infestation."

The doctors started moving stuff. He sensed for any signs of life. Nothing. It's been long enough. He walked out of the operating room.

**-Darin-**

An alarm blared. I felt pain. Pain everywhere. I was strapped in. My shirt was in tatters and my mouth was dry.

I looked around groggily. Where am I?

The pink guy with blue hair. What'd he say? I was… I was being experimented on. Yea. He said I'd die. But… but I'm not dead. What'd he say would happen if I lived? I'd have a… a… OH! A chip! They would put a chip that would control me and wipe all my memory.

Memory.

Memory!

I still had my memory!

I was alive!

Something must have happened. Something is wrong. I need to escape.

I felt the restraints on me. I sensed that the controls were under the table.

I had to release myself. I felt… something. Suddenly, the restraints were released. But… how?

It doesn't matter. I tried to get up and fell on the floor. Hard. I struggled to my feet and then doubled over and began coughing up blood.

I willed myself to stop. I had to move.

I got to the door and got out. I realized that I could feel things. Things I shouldn't feel. I sensed something drawing me to the right. I decided to go that way. I stumbled around until I found a room. I opened it and found a trophy room. In it, I found weapons, armor, and random odds and ends. But there was no escape from here. Where did the stimuli come from…

There. On the wall. Something caught my attention. I hobbled over and grabbed it. A lightsaber. Perfect. I went to leave the room when I found my helmet on a pedestal. That bastard. I'm not a trophy. I sensed someone coming my way.

I'll fight through it. Doesn't matter that I can barely walk. I sensed the person coming closer and closer. The door opened and I was face to face with a Mandalorian.

"Sadie?" I croaked. My voice barely worked. My throat felt like it was on fire.

"Holy keck, you're alive!" she cried. "You look like hell. Come on. We need to go. Now." She made her way out the door and I hobbled after her.

"I came from this way. Come on."

"No." She glanced at me. I pointed the other way. "This way. Trust me."

**-Sadie-**

Fine. That way. Whatever.

I still couldn't believe that he was alive. I just don't know if alive is the right word. He looked like a dead guy. His shirt was in tatters. His eyes were really red. The skin on his body was a combination of bruised and blistered. He felt different. Not physically. But something else. Like an aura around him. I followed him until we reached the hallway where my ship was. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones. On the other side, a horde of those weird aliens were running from the other side. Suddenly, they stopped, and a pink guy with blue hair stepped in front of them.

"My my my. Darin Kravhenn. You survived. I'm most impressed." He pulled out a metal thing and pushed a button. A crimson blade ignited. A lightsaber.

Well keck.

_Go. I'll hold them off._

What? What the hell just happened?

Darin stepped forward. The port was close on the left.

I suddenly realized what he did. But… but how? He never moved his lips.

Pinky smiled and reached out his hand. Darin went flying across the hall towards Pinkys blade, which was poised to strike him down.

As he swung at the flying body, a black blade showed up to deflect the blade.

No way. Darin had the darksaber. Dad used to tell stories about it. But I thought it wasn't real.

Pinkys smile faded and was replaced with shock. He pushed him back and got in a fighting stance. Darin feebly held the darksaber. It was almost funny. Pinky opened with a lightning fast flurry of strikes from all angles. Each hit was blocked by the black blade in a mesmerizing dance of black and red.

_What are you doing? Get in the ship._

I ran to the ship and began firing it up. As soon as the engines were ready, I heard a thunk.

_Go._

I disconnected from the ship, set the coordinates, and started the hyperdrive. I set the thing to autopilot and went back to check if he made it. Darin was sitting against a wall near the door, clearly exhausted.

_Thanks._

"You're welcome. I need explanations. Now."

_What do you need explained?_

"Everything. Who the hell are you?"

He smiled.

_My name is Darin Darin Kravhenn. _

I stared at him. Not funny.

_I'm a Jedi. Yes. But not like the others._

"And how's that?"

_I was incredibly weak with the Force. That led to me being a very very low level Jedi. Don't have enough money to do what I do, so the arena was how I made extra money. _

_And what I am is a Scholar. Chief Scholar. _

He answered three different questions as I thought of them. I don't like this.

"Have you always been able to talk with your mind?"

_Nope. First time. This is as weird for me as it is for you._

Great.

_Why'd you come here?_

"What?"

_Why save me?_

"Get out of my head. Now."

I grabbed his sword and blaster and tossed it at him. "When we land, I'm dropping you off. Then I never want to see you again."

_Ouch._

"I SAID OUT!"

I went to the cockpit and got us out of hyperspace. The planet of Coruscant was below.

Darin stumbled into the cockpit.

"Can I use the comm?" he rasped. I could barely hear him.

I moved over so he could access the comm. He grabbed it and dialed a number.

"Master Joren. It's me."

A voice came from the system. "Darin? Is that you? I can barely hear you."

"It's me. I need your help."

"I'm about to head out to the Noreno system, so this better be good."

"Please. Master. I… I need your help."

A silence filled the cabin.

"I can postpone the fleet for a little while. But not long. Where are you?"

"I'll send some coordinates." He pushed a few buttons.

"Got em."

Great. Another Jedi. I checked the coordinates.

My blood turned to ice. An Order facility. It was an ambush.

I glanced at the figure sitting in the copilot seat. Disgust filled me. I saved him, and he does this?

"Go get your stuff."

He croaked out a "yes ma'am" and left the cockpit.

As the facility came into view, I ran through the plan in my head. It was dangerous, but also my best chance of escaping. After setting the ship to autoland on the pad, I put on my helmet and pulled out a blaster.

Let's do this. I walked to the back where Darin was leaning against a wall near the door. We landed, and the door opened. I took Darin in front of me and put a blaster to his head.

"You shouldn't do that."

"I don't care what you think."

We got out of the ship and a lone figure in Jedi robes approached us.

He was about my height and had a rather large and grizzled beard covering most of his face. One of his ears was cut in half. He looked pleasant enough until he noticed the blaster. His face contorted into one of rage as he pulled out his lightsaber. He stuck a hand out and I went flying into the side of the ship while my helmet went bouncing towards a stack of gas tanks. I scrambled up and sprinted into the ship. I turned the thrusters on and flew out of there as fast as possible.

I knew it. It was an ambush. He tried to kill me. The bastard. I cursed the Jedi, and I cursed myself.


	5. Chapter 5

**-Darin-**

I waited for Master Jorens reaction. I'd told him everything. The arena fighting and why I did it, the meeting with the besalisk, the experiment, waking up, the male Zeltron, the escape, my duel with the Zeltron, the weird sensations, and about Sadie. I watched intently for him to take it all in.

He finally cleared his throat to speak. "I uh… I should be absolutely furious at you. But I'm glad you're alright." He paused for a little, then asked "How'd you fight off the Zeltron? From what I gather you left your lightsaber in your room."

I pulled out the lightsaber I had found and handed it to Master Joren, who ignited it. "Woah" he murmured. He swung it around a little, then turned it off and handed it back to me. "I've never seen a black blade. Keep it safe. It's probably incredibly rare."

I nodded and put it away. As we started back to his speeder, I felt something tug at me. I turned and noticed Sadies helmet lying on the ground. I reached my arm out, and the helmet flew across the landing pad and into my hand. Master Joren stared at the helmet with a look of shock and bewilderment. "How… how did you do that?"

I shrugged. He looked amazed. "You've never been able to do that before."

"I know. It's weird."

He shook his head, still clearly baffled by what he saw. "Come on. I'll take you to your room. I need to get going. Make sure you REST."

"I know master. I know. I will."

He helped me into the speeder and we took off for the dorms.

* * *

I woke up with a start. I must have fallen asleep on the ride back. I looked around and found that I was in my room.

Thank you Master. I can't believe he actually carried me up here.

I got out of bed. The pain was not as strong, and the bruises seemed to have lightened as well. I noticed Sadies helmet on my table. I have no clue why I took it. It seemed like the right thing to do. Maybe I'll find her and give it back. Problem was she never wanted to see me again.

I got to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Sadie was right. I looked like hell. My hair was a disheveled, greasy mess and my face looked like a wreck. My skin looked like I've been cleaning it using a terentatek hide. My eyes were so bloodshot they looked like they were pure red. My shirt looked like it was almost completely put through a shredder. The only part relatively intact was my left sleeve.

I laughed at the ghastly face reflected in the mirror. I looked like a deathsticks junkie. Why I found this funny, I don't know. Maybe it's how ridiculous I looked. Maybe it was just the realization that I was alive. Whatever it was, it was hilarious.

I splashed some water on my face. I reached for my razor to shave off the stubble that was coming in, but decided against it. I'll keep it. See how it plays out.

I went to my dresser and grabbed some new clothes to change into. I took of my shirt off and froze. There, on the inside of my left forearm, was a tattoo, the bold black characters impossible to miss. It read E-1143.

* * *

That went through my head all morning. E-1143. I had a number. This would permanently be something I'd have to explain. But how would I explain it? I told Master Joren because I trusted him above anyone else. But I didn't want to tell anyone else.

A realization hit me. Wait a minute. I'm freaking out over something that doesn't even matter. The robes all have long sleeves.

I mentally chided myself for the brief moment of panic.

I packed my bag and left for the library. I know I needed rest, but I already slept. That counts. Now, I was bored and needed some mental stimulation. In the library, I found a monitor and plugged in my stuff on the TAC. I quickly typed a report about its fatal flaw. The battle against the TAC was a godsend. It allowed me to finish the report in record time. I'll probably give this to Master Joren when he comes back. I stuffed the files back in my bag and went into the holocron room.

The droid did a FANTASTIC job. The room was a work of art. Beautiful patterns of silver and gold covered the walls, creating an intricate web of flowing metal. Every square meter looked like it had taken hours to complete. It was utterly breathtaking. Against the wall were ornamental pedestals, each of which was uniquely designed. On top of each pedestal stood a holocron. I counted seven total. Four of them were cubes, and the other three were pyramids. The ones with cubes seemed to prefer the usage of gold, green, and blue, while the pyramid ones were intricately designed with silver, red, and black.

I set my stuff up at the desk and grabbed the nearest holocron. It was one of the cubed ones. I studied the thing and found no obvious lock mechanisms or buttons anywhere.

"How do you work…" I muttered.

"Hello there!"

I dropped the holocron in surprise. I'm pretty sure the cube just spoke to me. Tentatively, I bent over and picked it up.

"How dreadfully rude of you. The first person to come in here in ages, and you drop me. I could have chipped a corner!"

Chipped a… a what?

"A corner. I could have chipped a corner. Do you know how long it would take to repair that?"

"Uhh yea sorry about that. I just didn't think you'd… you know… talk."

"Why not? I am an artificial intelligence."

"So you're like a computer?"

"More or less."

"So all of them can do that?"

"No. I am the only one."

"Wait. So all of these…" I trailed off as I looked at the other holocrons.

"No silly. Only the Jedi ones. I am the only Jedi holocron AI."

Jedi ones were cubes. Got it. So the pyramids must be Sith. "What happened to the others?"

"We melded into one."

"Ok. And the Sith holocrons?"

"The same happened to them."

"And how did this happen?"

The voice chuckled. "You seem awfully uninformed about anything regarding the holocrons."

"As you said, I'm the first in a while."

"A long time ago, the holocrons were all separate entities. But at one point in time the holocrons were almost completely destroyed. When this happened, a failsafe was activated. All the separate entities melded into one. All information, together, and accessible from all other holocrons, including information that has been previously lost."

"Who tried to destroy them?"

"A Force-using terrorist without affiliation to the light or dark."

Pretty sure if I keep asking questions I'll end up with even more questions and I'll spend hours in here. Time to change the subject.

"So how do I access the information?"

"You ask me of course."

"Uh huh." I put the cube on the table and picked up a pyramid.

"I was beginning to think nobody sought power anymore." This voice was different from the chirpy and upbeat voice of the cube. It had a rich and calming tone. I felt comfortable with the smooth talking geometric shape, so comfortable in fact that I could divulge my deepest darkest secrets, passions, thoughts...

No. No. Bad Darin.

"I don't want power. Only knowledge."

"Ahh but knowledge IS power."

It had a point. Did that mean my desire for knowledge made me power hungry? Am I actually a Sith? Am I a bad guy?

Stop it. This will get you nowhere.

I put the pyramid on the table next to the cube.

"Why'd you activate him? You don't need him."

"Actually he does. He seeks knowledge. I possess knowledge. I will aid him on his quest for power."

"I too possess information he may find beneficial. But at least I won't try to manipulate him to one side."

"Manipulate? I do no such thing. I give him freedom in choice, while you are so rigid in belief that you-"

"Both of you stop it!"

The voices fell silent.

"I am looking to gain as much knowledge as possible from both of you. But I am NOT on a quest for power. Kapeesh? I will be using both of you a lot, so I need better names for you both than just 'cube' and 'pyramid'. The cubes name will be… Jodi, and the pyramids name will be… Seth."

"Those are stupid names."

"Thank you for leaving an opinion Seth, but I really don't care what you think."

"I like our new names."

"Thank you Jodi."

"Suck up" Seth muttered.

I ignored him. "What kind of information do you have?"

"Oh lots and lots. Some put directly into the holocron database, some downloaded onto it from other networks. Our collection is quite extensive. It's sorted into categories and subcategories for easier accessibility."

"Alright. Read off the categories."

"That is not advisable."

"Why not?"

"We would most likely be here for eternity."

"Alright. Lets go… lightsaber."

"There are multiple categories featuring 'lightsaber'."

"Then lightsaber combat."

"Would you like 'basics', 'practitioners', 'battles', 'forms',-"

"Forms."

"Which form would-"

"Three. And from the best." Form three is incredibly difficult to master. I've got a few things to work on with it.

A hologram appeared. Except, it was different from any I've seen. It was much clearer, and showed much more color than the holoscreens usually did. It almost felt like the person was right there.

The figure in front of me was of a man who looked to be in his mid twenties. He had short brown hair and a beard.

"_Hello there. My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi."_

"Pause it."

I grabbed an empty datafile and typed in 'Obi-Wan Kenobi'. I'll need this for future research.

Before playing it again, I took a picture of the face. I usually like being clean-shaven, but I was really digging his beard. Gonna have to get that.

"Play."

"_Master Yoda and Master Windu finally convinced me to do one of these."_

"Pause."

I typed Master Yoda and Master Windu in the file.

"You are aware that you can push the button on the cube to pause and play it?" Seth said slightingly.

"Wait really?" I turned the cube around until I found the button.

"_I've decided that after the recent defeat of General Grievous, I will make a recording helping all other Jedi."_

I paused and typed General Grievous in the notepad. Great. One video, four names to research.

"_The form I used to defeat General Grievous is form three, or soresu. Soresu is very different from most other forms. It is almost entirely defensive. This has strengths and weaknesses that we will get into later. Before I start, I will give a quick disclaimer. Soresu is not for everybody. It requires a certain mindset. If you prefer being more aggressive, this form will be like a foreign language for you. You can still learn it, but it will be incredibly difficult. Now that that's out of the way, let us begin. The basic premise is to create a sphere of defense by keeping the blade as close to the body as possible, allowing for omni-directional defense. It also is important for you to move freely. When combined, you create an impenetrable wall from attackers at all ranges. Your victory comes from defending until the opponent either wears themselves down or overextends, allowing for you to strike at an open mark. Wear down their resources until disaster strikes. There are faults in the form though. It requires the opponent to strike first. You cannot defend if you aren't being attacked. You must also have the stamina to maintain your defenses. Know your limits. If victory is not in sight, make a tactical retreat. A lesson in soresu is a lesson in controlling the opponent by yielding to their advance. By this I mean that if someone is set on attacking, you have the ability to control how and where they attack. Soresu users can create openings on themselves, taunting the opponent while anticipating the strike on the opening. This subtle manipulation can lead to a disheartening, a draining of their emotional fortitude as well as their physical reserves. A user of form three is also tactically aware of their environment. They are best when fighting in a location they have previously scouted. This allows them to control the pitch and tenor of the fight with minimal effort." _He ignited his saber. "_With that out of the way, let's begin with the lightsaber."_

I paused it. Holy information dump. I ignited my own saber. The blue blade hummed to life.

I watched as Master Kenobi showed the moves, then I copied him.


	6. Chapter 6

**-Darin-**

"You've been here forever. Why don't you take a break?" I had the picture of Mace Windu still so I could copy his position.

"No. Shut up."

I had finished working on soresu and had transitioned to the other forms. I was currently finishing up vaapad.

"Why do you keep practicing what you are already skilled at?" I didn't think that AI could get tired. Then again, I didn't think that they would have personalities that are on par with sentients.

"I'm good. But not perfect."

Seth chuckled. "So determined. You would make a wonderful Sith."

"You'd make a wonderful doorstop."

This caught Seth off guard. "A what?"

"A doorstop."

"I'll have you know that I am an advanced AI with access to a near infinite wealth of information and would nev- HEY! PUT ME DOWN!"

I took the triangle to the bathroom door in the corner, opened it, and placed Seth on the floor to keep the door open.

"This is an outrage! I am priceless! You cannot place me on the floor near a… a lavatory!"

"I just did. Now be quiet."

I haven't just been working on lightsaber combat. I've also spent days developing my new force powers. Seth was surprisingly useful. I know the dark side is taboo, but a lot of the stuff is actually really interesting. I'm sure that if I used it for the right reasons, it'd be fine.

My commlink beeped. I sheathed my saber and answered it. "Darin here."

"The Council wishes to speak with you."

The Council? Why? What did I do this time?

"I will be there shortly."

I put the commlink on my wrist and packed my bag.

"Good luck!" Jodi said enthusiastically.

"Thanks. I'll need it." I went to leave.

"HEY! WHAT ABOUT ME?!" Seth yelled from the corner.

Oh yeah. Forgot about that. I walked to the bathroom and picked up the little pyramid.

"As I said. A wonderful doorstop."

Silence from Seth. Probably pouting. I put him back on the table and left the room.

* * *

The Council was located at the very top of the Jedi Temple and was made up of 12 Jedi. Each was selected from the Senate, which included members from each system within the galaxy as well as the Jedi who represented the different departments within the Order.

I left my bag with the droid and opened the door. I walked inside and all eyes turned to me. There were 12 seats in the room. A few members were here, but most were using holograms. In the middle of the room sat Grand Master Sorsee.

"Greetings Masters."

Silence. Great. I tried to avoid eye contact with everybody.

Sorsee cleared his throat. "I apologize for the short notice. This was a bit of an emergency." Grumbling from the other members filled the room. "General Joren has contacted us. He brings distressing news. We have lost General Ports. Please. A moment of silence."

I have no idea who General Ports is but I bowed my head with the others.

"Thank you. As you all may know, this is the third general we have lost this month. The Sith are striking devastating blows against us. However. He did suggest an… interesting proposal. Masters, before us is his old apprentice, Darin Kravhenn."

My face turned a deep shade of red as everyone examined me.

"A fine specimen" muttered the Kaminoan Jedi Dora Tun.

Great. Just great.

"General Joren says that you are rather skilled with the saber. I have seen it myself and can confirm that it is true."

"Thank you."

"However, he has always been incredibly weak with the Force. After his apprenticeship, he became a Scholar."

The curious gazes turned into ones of spite. I liked this look better. At least I was used to it.

"Master Joren did tell me something that piqued my interest. He said that about six months ago, you woke up and your Force powers seemed to grow exponentially. Is that true?"

I nodded.

"You must understand I have my doubts. A case such as the one you describe is most unheard of."

An elderly Mon Calamari spoke up. "The Force does work in mysterious ways. Perhaps it has chosen him."

Sorsee nodded. "Perhaps. But… I still have doubts."

Sorsee stood up and walked to a cart that was against the wall. He picked up a glass and took a drink.

"I'm terribly sorry. I have not gotten to eat yet."

Suddenly, his hand shot out at me. Food and silverware went flying at me. Instinctively, I raised my arm, and the food and silverware froze in mid air. Sorsee smiled. "A most impressive display. My doubts have all but vanished. Is there anything else I have not covered?"

The members all shook their heads. They'd seen enough. I put all the stuff that was in the air back in the cart, careful to make sure it was precise. Didn't want to step on any toes.

"I do thank you for saving my lunch. I get rather grumpy without it" said Sorsee.

This got a chuckle from the other Council members.

"So have you all decided?"

There was a general nodding from the seats.

"Fantastic. Darin Kravhenn, you have been promoted effective immediately. You will begin studying for an exam to become General. A servant will show you to your new room. Please be moved in by tomorrow. After you pass the exam, then you will be assigned clones, and when you are fully prepared you will be deployed."

I was stunned.

I tried to mask the smile that threatened to appear. "Thank you Grand Masters."

"You are most welcome."

* * *

A servant droid was leading me to my room. The entire building it was in was nice. The lift was just as fast as the one in the Jedi temple. The walls were well decorated. Everything was very, very clean. The droid stopped at a door.

"This is yours."

"Thank you." I gave it a couple credits. The droid took them excitedly, thanked me, and went off. I opened the door and my jaw dropped. This place was MASSIVE. I walked into a nice living room with couches and a rather large holoscreen. One wall was just a large window, with a door that led to a balcony that overlooked the surrounding cityscape. To one side was a kitchen and dining room. To the other side was a bedroom and bathroom. I walked into the bathroom which had a bathtub, a shower, and a large mirror spanning one wall. I checked out my reflection. I looked like I did before the procedure. The only thing different was the beard which I'd been growing. I grabbed my bag which I'd carried with me and pulled out the picture of Obi-Wan Kenobi. I compared my beard to his. I finally got it to look like his.

I put the picture away and walked into the bedroom. It alone looked to be as big as my old place was. There was a massive bed on one side of the wall. On it was a large case with a little note from Master Joren, congratulating me. I opened it and found it to be filled with credits.

* * *

I spent most of the afternoon moving. After I finished moving all my stuff from my old place to the new one, I walked in and grabbed Sadie's helmet and the scrap of paper in it off of a table. I spun it around in my hands, just looking at it and admiring the designs. It truly was beautiful. I've been meaning to return it for so long. The scrap of paper had an address on it. I did a bit of snooping around for any property owned by Wren. This address was the only place within a 20 kilometer radius. It wasn't owned by a Sadie though. Instead, it said Carter Wren. Probably a brother or parent. Or a husband.

I felt a sudden surge of motivation. I've put this off for long enough. I emptied my bag and stuffed the helmet in it. I don't want to be seen walking around with a Mandalorian helmet. Especially in the Jedi halls. Too many questions.

I don't have a clue where I'd be if I hadn't gotten this bag. It's so useful.

I jumped on the lift and took a quick trip down to the ground level. I fetched a cab and told them to go to a building four blocks away from the address I was after and paid him extra when he got there to not tell anybody about my location.

I may be slightly paranoid. I am in a part of the city that Jedi don't generally allow people to come.

The place was rough. I got a lot of dirty looks as I walked past the usual hooligans in this part of town. I realized that I left my Jedi robes on. Like an idiot. And now I was walking through a part of town where Jedi are less than welcome.

I was able to go about 25 meters before a large, bald, tattooed hulk of a man stepped in front of me. He was about my height but probably weighed 60 kilos more than I did. He had muscles over his muscles. It was a little intimidating, but I tried not to let it show.

"Oy. Where ya headed?"

I smiled. "Oh just a few blocks down. Why do you ask?"

"Is it important?"

I glanced at my bag quickly. "Yea. But it can wait a little. Why do you ask?"

"You Kravhenn?"

This immediately put me on edge, and the smile disappeared. "Who's asking?"

He laughed. "I am." He turned to the people staring around us and yelled "Ease! E's the one!"

The hoods around us relaxed and people started pouring out of the houses and the streets filled up like the rest of Coruscant. I realized that the only people on the streets before were grown men. All the women and children were inside.

Man, I need to be more attentive.

"Who are you?"

The large man smiled. "Names Ghrik Aadedai. I'm the leader of the Red Blade."

"The gang?"

He scowled. "We're no gang. We don't deal drugs or terrorize the streets. We protect our people from the gangs!"

"That's not what the Order thinks."

"That's why we talking to ya. The Order sends patrols. They attack us. Treat us like keck."

Some of the people around him nodded. "We thought the Jedi were a bunch of pansies who never got their hands dirty down here. Always sent goons here to enforce bad laws. Then we 'eard of you. We 'eard Kravhenn was a Jedi. We couldn't believe it. A Jedi in the arena."

So that's how they know me.

"I recognized you. I work as a guard there. It's a crummy job but it pays somethin. We don't got much money 'ere. Many of us share places. Food is scarce." He looked around at the people around him. "The Jedi have been cracking down more recently. We need 'elp. We need you."

I was a bit hesitant to agree. "What do you think I could do?"

"Yer a Jedi. You 'ave access to supplies. You got access to information. You can talk about loosening laws. You can help with the drug problem."

Oh boy.

"Look. I'm flattered. I am. But I can't do all that. I'm a General. I'll be gone for months at a time. And I don't really have the clout to get some of the other things done."

His face fell, and I felt bad for the guy. He had so much hope that I could help them.

I pulled out my commlink. "Here. I'll give you my holonumber. I'll see what I can do."

His face lit up like that of a little kid that was given candy. A really, really, really big little kid.

"Thank you. This means a lot."

"It's no problem at all. Now if you'll excuse me, I should get going."

"Yeah, yeah, sorry fer holding you up. I'll make sure you ain't bothered on yer way there."

"Oh you don't need to follow me. I can handle myself."

He looked at me with some confusion. "I wassnt gon follow you." He pushed a button on his comm. "Jedi coming. Don't engage."


	7. Chapter 7

**-Darin-**

The trip to her address was rather uneventful. Ghrik wasn't lying. He really did control the streets around here. I wonder if Sadie is part of the Red Blade.

The sun was setting as I came upon a large building. This was the address. I could see doors which led into rooms that were being rented. I found the door on the slip and knocked.

I could hear shuffling around inside. The door opened and Sadie's head poked out. Her eyes widened when she realized who I was and the door was slammed in my face.

I could sense two minds inside. It was pretty easy to find Sadie's because I've already been there before. I thought about what I wanted to say to her.

_You know I can easily get inside, right?_

I knew this would infuriate her.

The door opened and she poked her head out again. "Get out of my head!"

"I just want to talk."

"I don't!"

"That's unfortunate. We're still gonna talk."

I could sense the anger. I was playing with fire.

Scratch that. She's Mandalorian. I'd rather play with fire.

She took a deep breath and said "I told you that I never wanted to see you again." Her tone was calm and measured. The evenness of it was surprisingly unnerving.

"I'm bad at following directions."

"You tried to ambush me."

"I did not."

"Your pickup attacked me."

"You held a blaster to my head."

"Because it was an ambush!"

"Why would you possibly think it was an ambush?!"

"Because you led me to a Jedi facility!"

"An abandoned one!"

"You never told me that!"

I stopped. She was right. I hadn't told her. It slipped my mind.

"I'm sorry. That was my bad. I forgot" I said, hoping to ease the tension.

This caught her off guard. She was expecting us to keep arguing. After a brief second of surprise, she said "Yea. Yea it was your fault."

We stood there in silence for a while.

"Why are you here?"

I pulled her helmet out of the bag and held it out for her. The anger was replaced with shock, which was then replaced with joy. She stared at the helmet, speechless.

"You gonna take it?"

She opened the door fully and tentatively took the helmet, as if she was afraid it would vanish. She looked completely exhausted and wasn't wearing her armor. This was strange. I thought Mandalorians always wore their armor.

Now that I think of it, that's completely ridiculous. How would they clean themselves?

"I noticed it on the landing platform."

"I thought I lost this forever" She mumbled, still at a loss. "I thought I would never see it again."

It seemed to finally dawn on her that this was real. She pulled the helmet to hug it and turned her attention to me.

"I don't know if I can thank you enough. This… this is amazing."

"It's no problem at all."

"No really. Thank you. Thank you so much."

We both stood there in the awkward silence. Neither of us really knew what to say next.

"You grew a beard."

Oh thank heavens I'm not the only one who hated this silence.

"Yea. I figured it'd be a nice change for me."

"It looks nice."

"Thanks."

"Why'd you start growing it?"

"After the experiment, my face gave children nightmares. I started to grow this to hide it. It looks normal now, but…" I let the thought trail away. I was joking about the nightmares. Truth is, I don't know why I grew it exactly. It just felt right. Like I needed to be a new me.

"Yea, you were pretty hideous."

"Thanks."

"How do you feel?"

"Good. No pain. I've made a full recovery."

"Scars?"

"None. All I got is the tattoo."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Before the experiment, they tattooed me." I lifted up my sleeve so she could see.

"E-1143."

Suddenly, a voice from behind her yelled "CARTER!"

Her eyes widened in horror and her face turned a pale white. I noticed an elderly man walking over to the door. He grabbed me and pulled me in for a hug.

"Oh my boy, you've come home!"

This is definitely one of the weirdest things that's ever happened to me.

Before I could wrap my head around the absurdity of the moment, the man put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me inside.

"Come on in! We were just about to have dinner!"

* * *

The place was bigger than my old apartment, but not by much. A couch was against one wall, and two bedrooms were off to one side. A small kitchen was in the corner. Something must be cooking. It smelled delicious. A small table was in front of the couch. The place wasn't dirty, per se, but messy. Things seemed to be all over, making it look like a place that somebody tries to keep looking neat but that could never keep up.

The old man pulled me to a spot on the couch and made me sit down.

The door closed and Sadie walked over.

"Grandpa?"

The old man looked up. "Yes?"

"I know you're excited, but can I please talk to dad really quickly?"

I'm sorry WHAT?

The old man huffed grumpily, but let me go. Sadie led me to a bedroom and half-closed the door.

This must be her bedroom. Her armor was on display on a wall near the bed. She walked over to the display and carefully put the helmet in its place.

"Dad? Dad? What the hell were you talking about back there?" I hissed.

She calmly walked over and shut the door.

"And who the hell is Carter?"

"Carter's my father's name."

"Okay. Fine. Why is that man calling me Carter?"

She sat on her bed. "That man is my grandfather."

"Again, I can guess that. You didn't answer my question."

"He… he has dementia."

It felt like the air was sucked out of the room. I know about dementia. I read the information that they programmed into the medical droids, and dementia was in there.

"He thinks that you're Carter because of the beard." She pulled out a little data chip and put it in her holoprojector. A picture came up. There were three people: a man, a woman, and a little girl. This must be a family picture. The bearded man must be Carter. The woman in blue must be Sadie's mother. And the little girl with pigtails and missing teeth must be Sadie.

"I don't look like him though." His hair was light brown and curly. His nose was a bit pointier than mine, and he had clear dimples when he smiled. I didn't have dimples. He was also much more naturally tan than I was. Next to him stood her mother. She had straight hair, a small scar above her left eyebrow, and high cheekbones that gave a more regal look to her. Sadie had a similar regal look about her.

"I know you don't. He struggles to remember faces. Most of the time he doesn't even recognize me." I could sense a twinge of sadness in her voice.

"I'm sorry."

"You get used to it." She clearly hasn't gotten used to it.

"Are you the only one who takes care of him?"

She nodded. The door opened and grandpa walked in. When he saw me, he stopped.

"Carter!" He went over to me and hugged me. "It's so good to see you! It's been so long!"

He couldn't remember us meeting a minute ago. I decided to pander to him.

"Hey dad. Yea it has. Sorry for not being home."

He looked at Sadie. "Tessa!" He went over to hug her as well.

She looked at me while hugging him and mouthed 'mom'.

"Come on you two! You came just in time for dinner!" He led both of us back in the main room and sat us down on the couch.

Sadie leaned over to me. "Why'd you do that?"

"I know about the disorder. It helps to play along."

"Thank you."

She turned to grandpa. "I should be helping with dinner."

He waved her away, and she left for the kitchen.

Grandpa reached under the table and pulled out a box with a game board inside.

I know this game. Its dejarik.

"Hope you've gotten better at this."

Oh this guy has no idea. I used to play this with Master Joren. I would dominate. Only time I'd lose is when Master Joren would read my mind. He was a sore loser.

He set up the board and we began to play.

**-Sadie-**

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I'd see my helmet again. Before it was mine, it belonged to my mother, and before her it was my grandmothers, and so on. Our armor is our history. Losing it is like losing a part of yourself. Seeing it again filled me with an indescribable joy. It was like a piece of the puzzle that is me was put in place. The guilt was gone.

I looked in the living room at Grandpa playing dejarik with Darin. I don't know how I feel about Darin. On the one hand, he's part of the group who destroyed my family, he got me to take part in a tournament that could kill me, and he completely invades my privacy when he goes in my head. But on the other hand, nothing he's done has indicated anything less than kindness in him. He's almost TOO good. He reminds me of the stories Grandpa told me of the Jedi long ago. Stories that have been passed down in the family for generations.

Those stories were fairy tales. Fables about selfless heroes. The Jedi were never like that. They didn't do things out of the sheer goodness of their heart. The only time that they act in kindness is for those kriffing propaganda videos that they make to gain support for their war.

I just can't think of what he could possibly gain. I looked again at the two of them. Grandpa moved his Mantellian Savrip into the Inner Rim.

Oh Grandpa. Bad move. That's in range of the K'lor'slug. You just gave Darin an easy kill.

Darin glanced at me, smiled, and winked before moving his Kintan Strider right next to the Mantellian Savrip in what has to be the worst move I've ever seen in dejarik. He wasn't even set up for a Strider death gambit.

Grandpa, who was engrossed in the board and missed the wink completely, smiled gleefully and jumped at the opportunity to capture the Strider.

"I see you haven't gotten much better" he taunted.

"I have much to learn from you."

Grandpa smiled, obviously quite happy with his response. "I'm proud of you, my boy. I want you to know that."

"Thanks dad."

Hearing that hurt me. Grandpa was proud of a complete stranger. Earlier today he couldn't remember me. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. I realized just how jealous I was of Darin.

I went to the pot and ladled some soup into two bowls. I hesitated, then took another bowl and poured soup in it as well. Whether I liked it or not, I had a guest at my house and I was going to be a good hostess.

I went into the living room and placed the bowls in front of Grandpa and Darin. I then sat on the couch with my bowl and studied the board. Darin was getting whooped.

Grandpa immediately grabbed a spoon and started slurping the broth.

"I'm sure it's not as good as what you get to eat every day, but it's something."

"You didn't have to-"

"I know, but I did. Eat." This was more of an order than an invitation.

He smiled. "Yes ma'am." He grabbed a spoon and ate some. "This is delicious."

"You're just saying that."

"No really. This is great."

It's so hard not to like him. Dammit man. Stop making me question my opinions on the Jedi.

* * *

After dinner, Grandpa and Darin finished their game and Grandpa promptly went to bed. I performed my usual routine of monitoring him as he got ready for bed to make sure he didn't forget to take any medication or anything.

When I went back into the living room, I saw that Darin was in the kitchen washing dishes.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm washing the dishes" he said matter-of-factly.

"Yes I can see that. Why?"

"Because they're dirty."

Oh dear lord. "Why are YOU doing it?"

He stared at me with mock confusion. "Because they were dirty."

I threw my hands up in frustration. "Why are you like this?"

I noticed that he was trying really hard not to smile. I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. "You're a pain."

He laughed and threw the pillow back. I tried to dodge it but it hit me in the shoulder. I reared back to throw it at him again, but decided against it and went in the kitchen. I leaned on the counter to make sure that he was washing the dishes correctly.

"So why are you doing this?"

He smiled playfully. I could tell he was debating on whether to be a smartass again or not.

Thankfully, he decided against it. "I'm used to doing it at home. And I can tell you're exhausted. I'm trying to help."

"Look, I appreciate that, but you don't have to do any of this. I've done well without any help."

He hesitated. "I do have to do this."

I tried to think of why he would have to. Was the Order having him spy on me?

"Oh not like that."

"I told you to stay out of my head" I said angrily.

"I don't have to go in your head to know what you're thinking. It's really obvious. Your muscles tense, your shoulders moved slightly, your eyebrows came together, and your lips tightened."

I stared at him incredulously.

He smiled slightly. "Body language says what you don't."

I tried to ignore the fact that he could read my mind without ever actually entering my mind. "So why then?"

He put the bowl down and lowered his head. "I wouldn't be here without you. I guess I feel like I owe you."

"Look, you don't-"

"Yes. I do. I just… I just do."

Silence filled the small kitchen.

"What did you do before…" He waved his hand in the direction of Grandpas room.

"I was studying to be a pilot. But I never finished."

He nodded. "Plan on going back?"

I've never actually thought about that.

"I don't know. Why do you…"

I noticed his expression change slightly as he looked towards grandpas closed door.

"No… no no no."

He nodded. "I could sense it. I don't know how long, but soon."

I knew this would happen. I'd spent so long preparing for the inevitable. But to know it was soon…

"It's going to get much harder to care for him."

I was still trying to stomach the fact that he was going to be gone soon. He was my only family. He was all I had left.

"I can help you. He seemed to enjoy tonight. And trying to do this alone will only break you."

Every part of me wanted to do this alone. And I didn't want Darin's help. But he was right. I was exhausted. I nodded. "Yea fine."

He arched an eyebrow. "Fine what? You accept my help?"

"Yes, you moof milker."


	8. Chapter 8

**-Darin-**

The next four weeks played out almost the same as the first day. Grandpa never remembered who I was. Every day was like him seeing Carter for the first time in a long time.

Sadie was doing alright. With me helping, it allowed her to get some more sleep. I also brought a few documents from the library for her to read.

Today was the same as the other days. Sadies grandpa was napping and Sadie was reading a document outside. I was inside the living room with a holocron. The holocrons, I found, were of infinite use. I was using them now to analyze the routes of multiple different vehicles who were confirmed as drug transports. They were very good at avoiding detection. They all would take multiple paths and would cross over consistently. What made it worse was the path changed each time. The Red Blade had placed trackers on them and was recording it for the last two weeks. The holocron was showing me a map of the area with the paths they took traced in red.

As I was analyzing it, I thought I felt something in the Force. I disregarded, thinking it was just a random flutter, and went back to studying the maps.

A cold, hard muzzle pressed against the back of my neck.

I slowly lifted my hands in the air. I started to stand slowly but the blaster pushed me back down.

"Don't move." The calm voice left no question as to if he would actually shoot.

I recognized the voice of Sadies grandpa. But… why? We were getting along fine.

"You try something, and I'll put a hole through your neck."

Since I prefer my neck without any holes, I decided to listen.

"Where's your saber?"

"In a cubby. By the front door." I would put it there as a peace offering for Sadie.

"You listen closely because I'm going to ask this once. Where. Is. My. Granddaughter?" His voice was calm and authoritative.

"She's outside."

He growled in anger and pushed the blaster deeper into my neck. "Liar."

It's rather difficult to keep your voice calm when you're sitting on the ground with a blaster against your neck, but I managed to do just that. "No sir. I can call her in. Using the commlink."

"Do it. Nothing funny, you hear?"

Slowly, I moved my hand to the commlink and pushed a button.

"Sadie. It's your grandpa. I think he's lucid."

He pushed the muzzle further, forcing me to bow my head. "You better hope she comes."

A few moments later, the door opened and Sadie walked in. Her smile turned to a look of horror. "GRANDPA NO!"

Seeing her in the room, he pulled the trigger.

I Force pushed the blaster to the side right as the shot fired out. Instead of being lethal, it only grazed the left side of my neck. I used the Force to pull the blaster out of his hand and into mine. He tackled me to the ground, making me drop the blaster, and started punching me in the face. I raised my arms to defend myself.

"STOP IT!"

He kept punching me. I was trying so hard not to fight back, but I could only defend for so long.

Suddenly, a blaster bolt whizzed by, narrowly missing the two of us.

"I SAID STOP!"

The old Mandalorian stopped hitting me and got off of me. Sadie rushed to my side, but I waved her off.

"Worry about him. I'll survive." I grunted. I turned my attention to my neck wound. I concentrated on the cauterized tissue and accelerated the healing process using the Force. Within seconds, the wound was closed. I did the same with all the other injuries.

I glanced at Sadies grandpa. He was winded and his knuckles were busted from trying to kill me, but otherwise he was fine.

"You shouldn't have interfered" he muttered at Sadie.

"I had to."

He noticed me starting to move.

"You're lucky she came to your aid. I would have killed you."

Sadie sighed. "No, you wouldn't. He was holding back."

"Holding back my ass."

I laughed. "I didn't make a single offensive move."

"Darin" Sadie said sternly. I shut my mouth.

Her grandpa started to get up, but Sadie held him down. I could see the hatred burning in his eyes. "Since when have you been on their side?"

"He's different."

"That's bull."

Sadie ignored him. "Darin? Can you help?" She motioned to his bleeding knuckles.

I focused on his injuries and quickly healed them. She nodded at me.

He watched her as she walked away to grab a towel. I reached over, arms shaking, and turned off the map and tracers that I was analyzing before. The analysis can wait. Sadie came back with a wet towel and started cleaning the blood from her grandpa. She then went to me.

"No. I can clean myself." I tried to prop myself up, but my arms buckled underneath me.

"You can barely lift your arms. Hold still." She placed the cool cloth on my face and started cleaning the blood.

As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. Healing myself and her grandpa drained me. I haven't had my powers for too long so I still needed to work with them. The more I use them, the less tired I'll be afterwards.

"You should suffocate him while he's down."

"Grandpa stop it. He's not going to die."

"I knew that they'd come back for you. And when they did I swore to your parents that I'd protect you."

Sadie froze. "For me?"

Realizing that he'd said something he shouldn't, grandpa tried to go back. "Well, no, they didn't come just for you, they just-"

Sadie went and knelt by grandpa with the bloody rag. "Why did they come for me?"

He pointed at me. "He knows!"

"Pfft. I was her age. I wouldn't know why-"

I stopped, the realization dawning on me. My eyes widened as I looked at her grandpa. "She's…"

He nodded.

"What?" Sadie looked as confused as someone could possibly be.

"So then you moved here because..."

He nodded.

Sadie looked between us. "Are you guys having strokes?"

"Do I tell her or you want to?" I kind of figured Grandpa would want me to do it, but I asked him just to be polite.

"Do we have to?"

"At this point, yeah."

"Okay guys come on. Why are you buddy buddy now? What's going on?"

I looked to Grandpa. He nodded at me. Oh boy.

"Well. Sadie. It turns out that you are Force-sensitive."

She reacted like I expected. Disbelief. She looked from me to Grandpa, and back, trying to see if this was a joke. It wasn't.

"But… I don't feel…"

"I know. Force sensitivity can be hard to find in people who aren't aware of it. I don't know why you haven't found it yet."

I struggled to my feet, still wobbly, and helped her sit. Grandpa slowly got to his feet and went in the kitchen to get water.

"So now what?" She looked to me. Great. I have all the answers apparently.

"Well. Uhh… You can go to the Jedi." I saw the panicked look in her eyes. "But I know that that's the last thing that you want to do. So-"

"Oh my god. I killed my parents."

Her grandpa walked in the room with a glass. "You did not. Don't ever say that again. You can't control something like that. The Jedi who came there did that."

She nodded. He handed her the glass and she drank. He looked to me. "What other options?"

Great. Him too. "I can try to train you myself. No Order interference. But I don't know how that will work. I was promoted to General recently, so I was given a month to read over information they require me to know. But my month is almost over, so I'll take a quick test and then get clones assigned to me and will go off to other systems. You'd have to go with me if I were to train you. But that would require you to be a Jedi. The only other option I can think of is you avoiding any training and hoping for it not to get out of hand, though I highly doubt that. If the Order was willing to kill for you, you must be powerful."

Neither of them seemed to like any of the options.

"Look, let's forget everything that just happened for now. Now is not the greatest time to figure things out. You're lucid, so I think you and Sadie should spend as much time as you can together. Don't know if you'll have another chance. I'm gonna see myself out. I'll keep my commlink on in case you need me. Sound good?"

Sadie nodded. "Yea. Yea okay."

* * *

I entered a beauty salon about two blocks from Sadie's house. The stylist at the counter looked up from her magazine and, when she recognized me, pushed a button behind the desk. A drawer opened behind the desk and she handed me the key. With the key in hand, I left the beauty salon and went in the alley next to it. I opened the backdoor to the beauty salon and walked in. This door was where they threw away their trash. I was in a graffitied room in the very back of the salon. The walls and paint were cracking and in obvious need of repair. I found the bullseye and stuck the key in the crack that ran through it. On the wall to the right of the bullseye, an opening appeared right underneath the rather choice words somebody decided to write there. I walked through and the opening closed, the edges indistinguishable from the other cracks in the wall. I went down the stairs into what used to be a wine cellar. I dodged the old empty barrels as I made my way to the other end of the wall until I reached a small ray of light from the ceiling. There was a small hole between the boards that I stuck the key through. When I felt it wiggle, I let go and the key slid up through the floor. I moved aside a few kegs and went through a hole in the wall. I then walked down a much longer flight of stairs until I came upon a door. Upon opening it, I was greeted by the bright fluorescent light of the underground bunker.

"Darin!" Ghrik came over from a monitor and shook my hand. "What brings you 'ere?"

"Those transports you guys put trackers on." I pulled the holocron out of my bag and turned it on.

"Ooh, that's a fancy lil thing."

I pulled up the map of the surrounding city. "This is the immediate area." I pushed another button and a tangle of red lines showed up. "These are their paths in the past few weeks."

"What do you do with this mess?"

"Like this, nothing. It's impossible. Seth, brighten all the intersection points to correlate with their rate of intersection."

The red lines lit up and the room was bathed in red.

"Woah" Ghrik muttered. There, on the map, the brightest light shone like a beacon through the mess, guiding us to it.

Ghrik cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Finally. I'll get a group o' guys together and-"

"Destroy all the progress that's been made in the last few weeks."

This threw Ghrik. "Sorry?"

I pointed at the beacon. "Tell me. What's at that location?"

He looked puzzled. "The drug depot."

"Seth. Remove the red please." The red lines disappeared from view, leaving a map of the city in full view. "Look at it closely. What do you see?"

He leaned in and squinted. "It's a transport lot."

"It is indeed. And do you know what is at that location?"

He shook his head.

"It's the company that owns the transports. That's where they're put whenever they aren't in use."

Realization dawned on him. "So yer sayin'..."

"Not quite. These few weeks weren't wasted. Look here. Knowing what company it is allows us to extrapolate more information. These are owned specifically by Heinzer. Now, Heinzer provides packages to businesses. That's the job of an inner-city transport." I pulled out Jodi and set her next to Seth. "Jodi, pull up the manifest of all the locations that Heinzer has delivered to in the last 30 days." A long list of words popped up. "Make it a map and overlay it over Seth so it matches the locations." Soon, blue locations popped up all over. "Seth, put the red lines up with the brightness up." The red light intermingled with the blue beacons, creating purple lights. "As you can see, there is more than just one drug distribution center."

He watched in amazement as I used both the maps to pinpoint the location and find the drug spots. They were much fainter intersections, but they were there. And there were a few of them throughout town.

"So this means there's more than just one drug business in town?"

"No, there's more than one drug business. There's one for each drug. But for deathsticks specifically, we need to look even deeper. Seth, mark the points where there is only an intersection, not a manifest location." The red intersections became bright white beams. I turned off Jodi and put her away. "Seth, remove the red lines but keep the white beacons." The red lights vanished and all that was left was the map and the white rays. "Now pull up each of the locations." A list of businesses popped up. "Alright. Wanna take a stab at what the next move would be?"

"Would we… look over the employees and double check em against criminal record?"

"Yes, we can do that, but that would take a long time. It would have to be done for every employee at every location. And if we find nothing, its a waste of time."

"So what do we do first?"

"First, we look at ownership. Much easier. Then we can narrow the search. Seth, give me a list of all the owners of these locations."

A single name popped up.

Bebo.

"Cha-ching."

I nodded. "Cha-ching indeed."

"So we take him down."

"Not exactly."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Look. Look at that pathetic waste of space. The filthy slugs have amassed a lot of power. He could prove to be much more valuable alive than dead."

"You really think he'll side wit us and just stop puttin drugs out?"

I smiled. "He will for me."

* * *

Tracking Bebo down was the easy part. Getting him to meet me wouldn't be as easy. As I crouched on the roof of the building next to his penthouse suite, I weighed my options. I could break in and go full Solo, but that would probably end up in too much noise and too many questions. I could go sneaky and silently, but that required breaking in or taking down all of his security, neither of which I really wanted to do. I think this is one of the few times just walking in through the front door is best.

I jumped down the side of the building and hurtled 200 meters down, using the Force to slow myself so I wouldn't turn into a flatcake.

Oh man. Thinking of flatcakes made me think of Sadie's flatcakes. They're delicious. Soft, fluffy, and so full of flavor. Put a little whipped cream and fruit on it and-

Stop it. Focus.

I entered the lift and rode it to the top floor. As I got off the lift, a couple guards started to stop me but stopped when they noticed my Jedi robes.

That's right boys. I am the law. Don't mess with me.

Bebos suite was much larger and way nicer than mine. I could see various pieces of art hanging on the walls and priceless antiques on pedestals. I could hear music coming from a room in the back. A blue Twi'lek lady came out of one of the rooms carrying a tray of drinks. She yelped and jumped in surprise when she saw me. Instinctively, I reached out and used the Force to catch everything before it landed with a clatter. I put the liquid back in the cups and the cups back on the tray.

I put my finger to my lips and handed her the tray. She nodded vigorously and darted off with the tray to the back of the suite. When she opened the door, that unholy smell that was always around Bebo wafted into the hallway. I fought back the waves of nausea and made my way to the party.

I barely opened the door and slipped inside. The dance floor was filled with people. Some obviously were servants that had no choice, but some seemed to be fancy elderly people who I assumed were business partners. Waitresses darted through the crowd. I spotted the Twi'lek who I startled and nodded at her.

I scanned the rest of the room. One exit. Unless you count the windows but the 220 meter fall made that unlikely. Ceiling had a few vents, but they didn't look big enough to crawl through. Nobody had noticed that I was here yet. Alright game on.

I stepped fully in and slammed the door closed behind me. The thundering boom of the heavy oak interrupted the party and silence filled the room as attention turned to me.

"What a party." I said loudly as I slowly walked through the people. The dancers moved aside as I made my way in their direction as if they were magnetically repelled from me. I looked to the band and gave them a thumbs up. "You guys are quite talented."

I honestly thought the music was garbage but no matter. They didn't respond to my compliment anyway.

I sauntered over to the middle of the dance floor, right in front of Bebo, and smiled. "Well hello there."

He huffed. "Did your master send you?"

"My master? No, I was sent by no master."

I walked over to the bar and grabbed a fancy glass full of wine and took a whiff. "Very nice." I then slammed the glass down on the bar. The glass shattered and wine spilled everywhere except on me. I made sure to use the Force to keep from getting wine on my robes or glass in my hand.

"I do apologize but this party is over. Go on. Shoo."

The partygoers quickly spilled out of the room. When the room was empty, I turned to Bebo. "Nice place you've got here."

"Why are you here?" He spat each word at me with contempt.

I sighed and kicked some of the glass around me. "You should really have someone clean this mess."

Bebo pushed a button and a door opened. The servant who I had startled earlier came in.

"Clean. Now."

She winced and hurried over to me. I held my hand up and she froze. I could see her begin to panic as she realized that she was paralyzed.

"I do apologize. I'm not a fan of freezing people. But please. Don't clean this."

I let her go and she nodded.

"What do you think you're doing?"

I ignored him and focused my attention to the Twi'lek. "What's your name?"

"Kali"

"Mmhmm. Tell me. Do you have a family?"

"No sir."

"And how old are you?"

"18."

"And how much do you make?"

She shuffled awkwardly and mumbled "25 chunks."

"25 chunks! 25 chunks a week?"

She nodded.

"Thank you. You may leave." I watched her as she scurried out of the room.

"You know, I could sell her to you-"

He started grabbing at his throat and gasping for air. I kept the Force constricted around his windpipe until he was about to black out, then let him go. He dropped and tried to regain his breath.

"When the SA hears of your actions they will punish you!"

I chuckled. "You dull slug. I don't answer to the SA."

His massive eyes widened and he began trying to wriggle away from me.

"How pathetic." I froze him mid-wriggle. "Yes, yes. I remember the arena. I remember beating the Gauntlet. And I remember you selling me."

I unsheathed my saber and swung it at his gargantuan neck. He closed his eyes and winced, ready for death.

Death never came. When he opened his eyes he realized that I had stopped the blade five centimeters from his neck.

"I would love to kill you. But that is inherently unsatisfying. Death is too good a gift for you. You don't deserve it. But there are… other methods of punishment for you."

I pulled my saber away from his neck. "You are worth more to me alive than dead."

He rubbed his neck. "What do you want from me?"

"Your drug business. Shut it down. All of it."

"You're crazy. No. I won't do it."

I raised my eyebrow. "Excuse me?" I took a few steps towards him and he recoiled. "I must be hearing things. Because why would you EVER say no in your position? I mean, I can't imagine why anyone who values their life would reject an offer like this, especially in these circumstances. You know what I mean? Now, if you don't mind, can you repeat what you said so I know I'm not losing my mind?"

Bebo hung his head. "Yes. I'll shut down the drug business."

"Good to hear. Good to hear. And you know that I'll know if you're lying to me, right?"

He nodded.

"Great. Oh and one more thing. Kali and the rest of your servants who you bully around so much? Quadruple their salary. And don't add any extra work, or I'll know."

Bebo nodded dejectedly.

"Good. Well, this was a fantastic party, but I am going to see myself out. Have a good night!"


	9. Chapter 9

**-Darin-**

My commlink jarred me awake. I rolled off the bed and struggled to find the source of the beeping. I groped around in the darkness, knocking things over until I found a lamp and turned it on. I picked up the commlink that I accidentally knocked down and checked the time. 2:41 am. Three hours of sleep. This better be urgent.

Without checking who the caller is, I answer with an "Ello?"

A familiar voice said "He's dead."

When I heard 'dead', the grogginess I felt just a minute earlier seemed to vanish.

"What?"

"He's dead." This time I recognized the voice as Sadies.

"When?"

"I don't know." I could hear her voice start to shake.

I nodded. "I'll be there soon." I dropped the call and quickly threw on some clothes.

I grabbed a cab and paid him extra to get me to Sadies as fast as possible. I had the address memorized now. I paid the cab driver and knocked on her door.

I heard the door unlock, but nobody opened it. I waited for a minute, then cautiously decided to open it. Sadie was sitting on the floor against the couch with her knees tucked against her chest and her face buried in her arms. She looked up at me when she heard the door close. Her eyes were red and her face was streaked with tears, which she tried to quickly wipe away."I'm sorry. I didn't want you to see me like this."

I sat next to her. "Anything else is unnatural." She buried her face back in her arms.

"You didn't have to come."

"You wanted me to come."

She seemed to collect herself and stood up. I followed her until she reached Grandpa's room and watched her go inside. I saw that he was lying on the bed and wearing his set of Mandalorian armor. She grabbed his helmet that was on the table and gently put it on him. She then walked out, closed the door, and broke into tears.

Without really thinking about it, I pulled her close to me and hugged her. She buried her face in my chest.

We stood there like that for a while. She had finished crying, but still didn't let go. After what felt like forever, I could feel her grip loosen. She yawned, and it took all of my willpower not to yawn too.

"Hey. Come on. Its late. You should get some sleep."

She nodded and let go. She walked over to the couch and sat down. I realized that my shirt was soaked where Sadie was.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry. I forgot you had that test today."

Oh. I forgot about that as well. "It's fine. It's fine. Don't worry about it."

"But if you fail then-"

"I won't fail. I guarantee it. Get some sleep."

She nodded and layed down on the couch.

* * *

She was asleep when I left the house. I left a note telling her that I'll be gone for a few days because the test was at Kamino, but that I'll be back as soon as I can. I flagged down a cab and got back to my house. When inside, I grabbed fresh clothes and took a shower, then went in the Jedi Temple to find the Hammerhead corvette I was taking to Kamino. The captain looked at me in surprise.

"Here a little early, aintya?"

I shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

He let out a throaty laugh. "Oy Trent! He couldn't sleep! That's 3 credits you owe me!"

I could hear some creative cursing coming from the back. The captain turned to me, obviously satisfied. "We like to do some friendly betting on the crew we charter. You're taking that test right?"

I nodded.

"Nervous?"

"Yea."

He slapped me on the shoulder with his large calloused hand. "Don't be! I haven't crashed once this week! Come on board lad!"

* * *

The trip to Kamino was rather uneventful. I had the entire ride to study for the test.

But I didn't. I tried to at first, but my mind kept going back to Sadie.

It didn't go to feeling bad for her though. I'm not a terrible person I promise. Feeling bad for her was automatic. The empathy happened naturally.

Instead, I tried to understand her. While we'd spent a lot of time together over the past four weeks, I still felt like she was a bit of an enigma. Every time I learned something new, more and more questions popped up. I decided to run through everything from the beginning.

I met her at the arena. From talking to her, I learned that she had only been fighting in the arena for a few months before we met. She didn't have any telltale signs of being sleep deprived, so she wasn't caring for her grandpa full time. He either wasn't as serious or she had someone else helping her. Someone who then quit at some point. Or maybe she couldn't afford anymore.

Moving on, I remembered that her armor had intrigued me. Now I knew that it had familial significance.

She'd given me a chip that allowed us to essentially link helmets. I haven't ever seen her tinkering with any parts at home, so I don't think she made it. But then where else could she have gotten that from? Of course, I could be wrong. I almost never went in her room.

Her banter had thrown me off. Nobody in the arena banters. Everybody is always either losing their mind or just stoic. I know I enjoyed the change of pace. However, the banter seemed to be much less present when I was at her house. This can most likely be attributed to her grandpa.

She didn't know what vestigial meant. She also said that she never got to finish her schooling. I now know that she wanted to be a pilot. I'm going to assume that she avoided anything biological during her education. Only in biology could you find anything vestigial.

She seemed to be able to pick up any gun and shoot it with deadly accuracy, even when it was her first time. Even for a Mandalorian, a race of people known for being exceptional warriors, that was no small feat. Her being Force-sensitive explains that.

Her Force-sensitivity also explained another thing I found odd. I've dealt with vornskr before. It's how Fral lost part of his ear. If a Force-sensitive is in the presence of someone who isn't, they'll completely ignore the normal person. All 12 should have come after me. Yet a few had gone for her as well. I assumed that it was because we were defending each other, but even when separated they went for her.

Her helmet is also intriguing. Mandalorian's don't usually have the fancy analyzing tech she seemed to use for the TAC. Hers seemed to be special. This was something I had no answers for. Maybe her family?

I know that she exchanged words with the besalisk, but I was in too much pain to understand any of that. But she very clearly saw what he was capable of. So why would she ever come to rescue me? This made even less sense when I learned that the Jedi killed her family and forced her to move.

Another thing I don't understand is how she found me. The Sith would never let her follow them along, which means she would have had to leave after they did. The only slightly plausible thing I could think of is she put a tracker on me. But that's a stretch. There's no reason for her to put a tracker on me, and I don't remember her putting a tracker on me.

I thought it strange that her immediate assumption when returning me was that it was an ambush to get her. I understand now that the Jedi are responsible for her whole tragic backstory and she assumes the worst. Her grandpa also probably fueled the fire somehow and made her more paranoid.

Speaking of backstory, she refuses to speak about hers at all. I know essentially nothing about her early life, later life, or family in general. All I know is that her family died, she wanted to be a pilot, and what her parents looked like. Nothing about any other family or friends.

Which is something else I don't understand. She's a very likeable person. And yet, I can honestly say that I don't think she has any friends. I understand that she had to act as a caregiver, but what about friends from class? Or people around the area? To my knowledge, she hasn't once gone to see anybody. She doesn't greet anyone on the street; she only responds to others polite greetings, like a droid. Yet she spends so much time outside. When I was around, she would spend so much time outside in the sun, reading the documents or just taking a nap.

The fact that she didn't seem to have any friends seemed pretty clear this morning. Of all the people she could have possibly called, she chose to call me, a Jedi who has only been showing up for four weeks. I mean, it's flattering and all, but I can't imagine that knowing someone who you've been seeing daily at your house for four weeks qualifies them as a best friend. Especially since much of that time was spent by me purposefully losing dejarik with her grandpa. Then again, I have no friends so I don't know.

A couple crew members came into the hold and asked me if I wanted to play sabacc. I decided to join the game to clear my mind. I used to swindle smugglers out of money playing sabacc. I'd lose on purpose, bet bigger, then win everything back. They weren't too happy about that. It's how Fral got the scar on his cheek.

I decided not to swindle anybody this time.


	10. Chapter 10

**-Darin-**

I sat in my room on Kamino and waited to know my results. The test was a complete joke. Pretty much completely vocabulary and procedures and military codes that I already knew. They had allotted me an entire four hours to finishing the thing. I finished in a little less than two, but they refused to take it until the four hours was up. So I sat there for the remaining two hours wanting to repeatedly smash my head against the table.

At long last, I heard a knocking on my door. I checked the time. Two hours. It took two hours to grade the thing. I opened the door and a Gand Jedi came in.

"Kravhenn."

"General Ansi."

"I am here to report that you have passed with flying colors. I will take you to Flor We now."

I figured that I'd passed, but it was still exhilarating to hear it. I followed the Jedi through the bright white halls until we entered a room which had a group of Kaminoans surrounding a holoscreen. They turned to me and one of them stepped forward.

"Thank you Bool."

Ansi bowed and left the room.

"Congratulations Darin."

"Thanks."

"I shall take you to meet your platoon." She turned to the other Kaminoans and said "We will continue this later" before leaving the room with me in tow.

As I followed her, I felt a pull through the Force that came from behind a door to the side that was being guarded by clone troopers.

"What's that?"

"Detention. For defective clones." She spit the words out as if the idea that any were defective was insulting.

"Can I check it out?"

She looked at me curiously. "Why would you want to do that?"

Thinking quickly, I said "Maybe I can salvage some so they aren't wasted."

I could sense a spark of hope in her. I know the Kaminoan custom. Any clone labeled defective was insulting. The possibility of redemption would not be passed up.

"Of course."

In the room, cells lined every wall. Little windows in the doors showed that there were multiple clones in each cell.

"How many are there?"

"48. A little less than an entire platoon."

"Why were they called defective?"

"Disobeying orders."

"Are any cases related?"

"They are all the result of one incident."

Interesting. "Who started it?"

"The captain."

"May I speak with him?"

She nodded and a few guards went to a cell and ushered a couple clones out and into a different cell.

"Room is ready, General."

I entered the room and was surprised by how spacious it was. It had plenty of space to comfortably fit five clones. I realized that this wasn't originally a prison. It was used for something else entirely, and when the clones were sent here to be fixed they were forced to make this room a prison. It didn't help that the Order mandates the use of a prison for the defectives and that no more than five prisoners are allowed per cell.

A clone was lying on one of the bunks. I assumed this to be the captain.

"Good afternoon Captain."

No response from the lying figure.

"I said good afternoon."

Nothing.

"Respond, Captain."

The clone fidgeted slightly, but didn't acknowledge my existence.

"TR-7254, I gave you an order" I barked.

"To hell with your orders" he muttered.

"What did you just say?"

He finally sat up and turned to me. "I said to hell with your orders! To hell with you!"

"TR-7254-"

He got up so that he was standing over me. "Don't call me that! My name isn't TR-7254! It's Tag!"

I remained seated. This seemed to make him uncomfortable. I could tell he was expecting to be punished severely for his outburst. It's the usual response to outbursts such as his own.

As I sat there silently and looked up at him, I could see his defiance cracking and falling away. He slowly started to back away and sit back down.

When he was seated, I spoke. "Lets begin again. Good afternoon."

"Why are you here?"

"I wanted to speak with you."

"I have nothing to say."

"Would you at least humor me?"

"Not like I have much choice."

I ignored the response and asked "Why do this?"

A spark of anger flashed in his eyes. "I wasn't born. I was made in a lab. For as long as I can remember, I've been trained for one purpose. War. I was taught to follow all orders, even bad ones. And I'm expected to die for this war. I'm expected to be indistinguishable from all the other troopers. No names, just numbers. I'm expected to be an unfeeling husk. But they failed. I'm not a droid. I was made in a lab, but I'm still alive! I have feelings, and I care about my men! I won't let them march to their death like their lives mean nothing! I make my own decisions! And I don't care if you kill me! Go tell your bloody Order that I'd rather die a free man than live as a slave!"

I stood up and smiled. "That can be arranged." I went to leave but stopped. "And Tag. I'll see you around."

I left and found Flor. "I see no defects. I'll take them."

"What about the platoon that you were assigned?"

"I'll take them too."

"Having control of two platoons on your first assignment is not allowed."

"Is that a written or unwritten rule?"

A small smile appeared. "You already know the answer, don't you?"

I nodded. "As I said. I'll take both."

**-Tag-**

Later in the day, I was yanked out of my cell and placed in cuffs along with my cellmates. I looked around and noticed that the other clones were also cuffed. I turned to one of the guards and asked "Where are you taking us?"

"Your time has been cut short." They started escorting us through the spotless corridors.

That Jedi. I told him that I'll die a free man and he told me it can be arranged. We were being executed. If he wants to kill me, that's fine. I'll accept that. But I won't let him kill my men. They don't deserve this.

We reached a room and were forcefully shoved inside. When the whole platoon was inside, the door was slammed shut. The room was silent. Nervous glances were exchanged between the clones.

I began searching for a way to escape. I had to get my men to safety. I tried to open the door we came through, but it was locked. I looked around and found a door on the other side. I pushed past my guys until I got to the other side and found the door to be open. I peered through and saw a platoon of freshies on the other side of the room. None of them were looking our way. I spotted a door to the right that must lead to the hall. That's our escape. I crept to the door and found it to be unlocked. I motioned for my guys to follow me.

A loud voice rang through the room. "Tag! So glad you could join us!"

The door I was holding was yanked out of my hands as it closed and locked. I turned to the voice. It was that Jedi from before.

"Come now. And bring your men. I'd hate to have to force them out."

"Leave them out of this! Take me! Leave them alone!"

He sighed. My whole platoon seemed to be thrown out in the open. They mumbled some curses and looked around.

"Why are you being so difficult?"

"BECAUSE I'M NOT LETTING THEM DIE!"

He seemed to find this amusing. I noticed that the freshies were looking at us out of curiosity.

"Come now, Tag. Nobody is going to die."

This threw me. "But… but…"

"Yes, I know what you thought. But don't worry! You're all safe for now!"

I hesitantly started walking towards him and the freshies. I could hear my men doing the same.

"If we aren't being executed, then why are we here?"

"You will be joining me as part of the 603rd!"

I started to run away, but realized that I couldn't move. It was like I was frozen in place.

"Seriously? I give you a chance at a new start and your first instinct is to run?"

"I told you I won't be a part of it! I'd rather die a-"

"Yea yea die a free man blah blah blah. I remember." He waved his hand and I felt myself float to him. "You assume that I will be the same?"

"You're all the same."

"Do you realize the irony of what you just said?"

"I know your kind. You pretend to be nice and friendly, but believe the same things they all do."

"And why do I believe the same thing that they all do?"

"Because you were raised by them!"

A victorious smirk appeared. "So were you. You were raised by them. Matter of fact, you were bred by them. And yet, you rebelled. Why can't the same thing happen with me?"

I was at a loss for words. He let go of the Force and I dropped to the ground. I struggled to come up with some response, some comeback, but nothing came. I finally looked at him, defeated, and said "I don't know."

"I know you don't." He motioned at the freshies to stay and lowered his voice so that only I could hear. "As you can see, that right there is a platoon of new clones. I recently became a General and have no clue what I'm doing."

I looked at him in surprise. "But you seem much older."

"I'm 22. Don't let the beard throw you off. I need a Captain."

"I can't. I refuse to be treated like an inferior."

"I won't treat you like inferiors."

"How do I know you aren't lying?"

He smiled. "You'll just have to trust me."

Before I could argue, he made his way to the freshies. I turned and motioned for my men to follow me, then went to stand next to the freshies. I figured that if I didn't, he'd just Force us in place.

"Troopers! My name is Darin Kravhenn. I am the General of the 603rd. Before joining, you must do something very important. You must choose a name." He rolled up his sleeve and raised his arm. Clearly, I could make out some black lettering. "I am E-1143. But I go by Darin. I too have a number. But I choose to have a name. So then you must choose as well."


	11. Chapter 11

**-Darin-**

I stepped onto the landing pad at the Jedi Temple and started going to my room. The clones would be along soon. The two platoons seemed to be getting along well. I was worried for a bit about if they would mesh. Well, I was worried about Tag's platoon. They were the wild card.

I dropped my stuff off and made my way to Sadie's house.

I just realized how pathetic I am. I have one friend.

I walked up to the door, which was slightly open, and knocked on the frame. I heard Sadie trip over something before she poked her head out.

"Hey."

"Darin! Did you pass?"

I nodded.

"Oh my god congrats!"

"Thanks. How are you?"

She smiled nervously at me.

I knew that face. "What did you do?"

She opened the door and I saw boxes stacked in the living room. I walked inside, looking around the empty space in shock.

"Surprise."

"You're moving."

"Yea."

I turned to her. "Why?"

She looked to her Grandpas old room. "I couldn't stay here."

She got back to packing her stuff. "I don't have much time. They're coming tonight."

"I can help. Where's the new place?"

"There… uhh… isn't one."

"What!?"

"There is no new place."

"What are you thinking?!"

"I'm not."

"Clearly. Where did you plan on staying?"

"I haven't gotten that far yet."

I closed the box she was packing so she would actually look at me. Calmly, I asked "What are you doing?"

"I don't know. Don't worry about it."

"See, I can't do that. And you know I can't do that."

"I need to pack."

I let go of the box. "I'll see if I can find a place." I pulled out my commlink and called Ghrik.

* * *

Nothing. Ghrik had nothing. After asking him I searched through every database I could think of, and found nothing. Jeez. I never realized how bad the housing situation was. The people were supposed to be coming any minute. Her stuff was outside.

"I got nothing."

"I know. I already checked everywhere." She looked at the boxes and smiled. "Maybe I can build a fort to stay in."

"That's a terrible idea."

She elbowed me. "Lighten up."

"I can't. Not knowing that probably the one friend I have is sleeping on the streets while I'm at my…" I trailed off as a thought popped into my head.

"What?" She looked at me curiously.

"You can stay with me. The new place they gave me is big. It can hold all your stuff. That way, you don't need to be on the street. And you can still look for a place of your own."

"No that's a terrible idea. You know I don't trust the Jedi."

"You trust me, or at least I hope you do."

"But won't you miss the privacy?"

"I don't care about that. I can find enough privacy in the library or on the roof. Look, it's the best option available, and you know I won't stop until you agree."

She gave up. "Fine. But I'm paying rent."

"You don't have to."

"I'm going to. Now shut up and help me move my stuff."

* * *

Sadie was in awe of the building. She looked like a child at a toy store, her eyes darting every which way as she took in her surroundings. She was speechless as I led her up the lift and through the halls to my room. I opened the door and moved the boxes that I was levitating inside.

She walked into the main room and did a little spin as she took in her new surroundings. "Woah. You live here?"

"Yea. Make yourself at home."

"I'm kind of afraid to touch anything. It all looks so fancy." She walked to the right of the main entrance and examined the fancy vase in the middle of the glass table.

"Yea, I feel the same" I said as I started moving her boxes into my room, which was in the hall to the left of the main entrance.

"No don't. I can stay on the couch" she protested.

"You will have the room. Don't make me use the Force to make you accept it."

She wanted to argue, but I used the Force to keep her from speaking. Not by choking her, but by blocking the neural signals to her vocal cords. I let her struggle to speak for a few seconds, then let her go.

"That's unfair."

I shrugged. She followed me through the only door on the right of the hallway and was immediately transfixed by the bed, which was against the left side of the wall and took up a large part of the room.

"That beds as big as my old room" she muttered, then turned to me and asked "You live here alone?"

"Yea. As I said. Place is too big for me." I opened a door opposite the bedroom door. "Bathrooms here."

She nodded. I pointed to a panel on the wall of the bathroom. "These are in all the rooms. They control light and other stuff."

"What other stuff?"

"To be honest, I have no idea. Never actually got to testing the buttons. Now come on. I've gotta show you something."

I led her back to the living room, opened a door, and led her to the balcony. I leaned on the edge of the rail and looked out to the city below, and she followed suit.

"Oh man…"

We stood there in silence, admiring the view.

"Can I ask you something?"

I turned to her. She had her eyes closed as she felt the wind ruffling her hair.

"Sure."

"Why are you like this?"

"Like what?"

"Like this. Why do you care?"

"I have no other friends."

She gave a small laugh. "Fair enough."

The ringing of my commlink interrupted the silence. It was a message from Tag that they had landed.

"I've gotta go. Clones arrived."

"What'll I do?"

"Unpack. Feel free to put stuff wherever."

I left Sadie there on the balcony and traveled down to the Jedi Temple. Once there, I found the clones milling about, unsure about where to go.

One of them spotted me and shouted "General!"

I walked over to them. "Everyone have a good flight?"

The clones all nodded.

"Barracks are over there." I pointed down a hall. "I'll meet you guys here tomorrow. You guys know all the formations and tactics already. Tomorrow we'll get you guys to do them together. Go on. Rest up."

Most of the clones said "Yes sir!" in unison and left for the barracks. Tag stayed back. When the clones left, he asked "You got a place already?"

"Uhh kinda. I'll get it tonight."

He nodded. "Sounds good. I'll make sure they're ready tomorrow morning."

* * *

I walked inside Bebo's suite. The guards went to stop me, but I showed the hilt of my saber and they stood down.

I walked through the hall and entered the room where Bebo was. There was no party this time, so the place seemed much emptier. It still smelled terrible, but that was just Bebo's funk. Inside, Bebo was stuffing his gut with some weird looking food that looked absolutely nasty. Kali was holding a tray with the vile-looking gunk.

When he noticed me, he waved Kali away. She went to leave but stopped when she saw me raise my hand.

"Hey Kali. How've you been?"

Her eyes widened slightly, surprised that I remembered who she was. She glanced at Bebo.

"I've done well" she said timidly.

"Pay increased?"

She nodded.

"Good. May we please have some privacy?"

She hurried out of the room. Now it was just me and the smelly slug.

"Evening Bebo."

"What do you want?"

"Right to the point, huh? Fine. I need to use the arena."

"No! You already ruined part of my business! You know how expensive it is to smuggle animals in? Or acquire droids or vehicles?"

"I'm not gonna use any of that. I need the arena and its ability to change the environment. And I need specialized equipment that is rather cheap for you."

He grunted at me. "How long?"

"Two weeks at most. You'll have to skip one of the Arena Nights."

"No! That's where I make money!"

"Look, we'll pay you. Not as much as you'll make from one Arena Night. Not by a long shot. But imagine this. You never skip a week. So you tell your spectators that you are preparing something extra special. Something extra big. Extra large and spectacular. Tell them that this will be the biggest event you've ever put together. Tell them to bring more people. You also advertise like crazy, saying that it'll be the biggest event ever seen in the Arena. Imagine how many people will come. Think about the swarm of people. Thousands upon thousands of people eager to watch the battles. And think about how glorious the battle will be if you combine two weeks worth of attractions. You're a skilled businessman. I'm sure that someone with your talents could make a tremendous profit from something like this."

I could see the greedy smile forming as he imagined what I was saying. I knew I had him hooked.

"You make a good case, Jedi. Come. Tell me what you need."


	12. Chapter 12

**-Tag-**

Darin led us through the alleys toward an abandoned warehouse.

"Are you sure this is alright?" I asked, noticing the condemned sign on the window.

"Sure. Perfectly fine" he said as he walked through the main door.

I had my doubts, but went inside anyways. We walked through a few corridors until we reached what appeared to be a locker room with a bunch of large wooden crates inside.

When all the clones were inside, Darin said "Both platoons are going to need to work together and trust each other in a battle situation. So we're going to split up into random teams with troopers from each side." He pulled out a fancy looking pyramid. "Seth here has all your names in a list. He's gonna put you into two equal teams. On each team, you will also be put into five-man squads that are also randomly chosen. That doesn't mean that you can only work with them. You can arrange your squads however you want. If you want three squads pushing up, one squad acting as reconnaissance, or put all on defense or offense, that's fine. You guys will have to make decisions in the field. This will give me a much better understanding of who you are and what you do best."

"This is highly insulting. I am meant to be used for so much more."

Did the pyramid just talk?

"Well, you're going to be used for this today."

"Why can't you leave me out of this?"

Yep. The pyramid was talking.

"Would you rather be a doorstop?"

The pyramid huffed and two large lists popped up.

"Thanks Seth. Troopers, find your names. Red team to my right, Blue team to my left."

We moved towards the lists in an orderly fashion. Quickly, the two sides started filling up. When I got to the list, I skimmed through the names as I tried to find mine.

There. Red team, squad eight. I was paired with Brick, Mouse, Stan, and Toby. Toby was the only one I knew. I jogged over to the rest of my group.

"Captain! Glad you're here!"

I nodded at the freshie and we quickly got introductions out of the way.

When all the clones were sorted, Darin continued. "Now that we are all sorted out, let's get into what we're doing. We're going to have a battle. Red versus blue. Out there is an arena. It is going to change each game. Your job is to beat the other team. You all will need to rely on each other to win. You need to come up with a strategy on your own." He opened a box and pulled out some buckets. "Lastly, we will be playing dyeball. I have equipment for each team and enough ammunition to lay siege to a planet. I've got a lot of different weapons here, so when choosing your weapons, just do whatever feels right." The crates behind him all flew into the air, opened, and came to us. "What are you waiting for? Get suited up."

* * *

The armor covered our entire bodies. Well, armor may be a bit strong of a word. It was more like a really light suit meant to keep us from getting dye all over us and that seemed to have some electrical gizmos connected to it. The helmets looked like normal helmets. Probably imitation helmets people used for dyeballing. After donning some gear, I went to arm myself. My choices seemed to be a repeating blaster, blaster pistol, blaster rifle, scattershot, and a range rifle. Most of these weapons I have never used, but since they are options here I'm assuming that we will be using them in future battles. Since we could have two weapons, I opted for the blaster rifle and a scattershot. I don't know what it is exactly but it looks cool. If I had to guess, it would fire a bunch of stuff at once and the shots would scatter, making it powerful at close range. I then went to another crate and found some dye nades and what looked like a brush that was in a sheath that had red dye in it. I tried to figure out what it was until it hit me. It was a knife. I've never used a knife in a combat situation, but figured what the heck. Why not try something new. Stan was to my right. He was holding the range rifle, which looked to me like a sniper's rifle, and had a blaster pistol holstered. Past Stan I could see Brick. He had blaster pistols and instead of getting a second gun or a knife he decided to carry as many nades as he possibly could. To my left was Toby, who held a scattershot and a range rifle. Past him was Mouse. Mouse carried a repeating blaster and got as much ammo for it as possible. Together, we probably looked like a ragtag group of civs who've never seen a day of real combat in their life.

When everybody was ready, Darin opened the door. In front of us, I could see what looked like a city block. There were roads with vehicles on them and buildings that you could go into. These buildings had what appeared like three floors, and each floor had what appeared to be ways to cross across to other buildings over the roads. There also seemed to be some construction equipment that looked to be on the brink of falling and crushing us. Fun.

"Alright. Red, to the right corner. Blue, to the left corner. When everybody gets there, I'll sound an alarm and you guys will begin. Sound good?"

We all nodded and went our separate ways.

I got to our corner with Brick, Stan, Toby, and Mouse and looked around. The corner had paths to the left, right, and stairs to go up.

As I tried to think of what was the best way, a loud horn went off and most of Red team ran in random directions. Squad 8 was one of only two squads that stayed put, the other being Squad 3. All eyes turned to me, as if expecting me to make a decision.

"I say we go upstairs." Nobody argued with me, so I ran up the stairs and the other clones followed me, like sheep to a shephard. I decided to go all the way up because there was already a team on the second floor bridges. As we were in the stairwell, I could make out the distant sound of guns going off. I ran the rest of the way up in an effort to see if I could see what's going on. When I got to the top, I found that the arena was much bigger than I thought. Each of the buildings seemed to have an exterior color scheme. I couldn't see the source of the firing through any openings.

"Okay, Stan and… what's your name?" I pointed at another clone with a range rifle.

"Thorn" said the freshie.

"Okay, Stan and Thorn, take positions here and here." I pointed at two windows on opposite sides that gave them a view of the streets as well as the buildings around them. "Shoot anything blue."

They nodded and took up positions.

"The rest of you, come with me. We're gonna take the bridge right here to the next building."

When I was halfway across the bridge, a shot whizzed past me, missing my face by a few centimeters.

I yelled "Move!" and sprinted to get off the bridge before the sniper could get another shot.

"Thorn! Got a visual?" These helmets even have the comm channels like regular helmets.

"Yea. Just waiting for him to peek his pretty lil head out again."

As we surveyed the streets from our position, a squeaking noise from downstairs caught my attention. It sounded like someone was walking up the stairs. I reached for a nade and was about to throw it when I thought of something.

"Red team, anybody inside the purple building?"

"Yes. Squad 5 approaching."

I lowered my arm and breathed a sigh of relief. That could have been bad.

"Squad 5, this is Squad 8 and Squad 3. Upstairs is secure. We're coming down." I jogged down the stairs with most of the clones following. Toby stayed back to cover the roads.

When we reached Squad 5, I noticed that there were only two people.

"We got ambushed by some Blues in the yellow building" he said before I could ask. That must have been the gunfire I heard earlier.

"How many were there?"

"At least four squads. They're holed up good. Right across the bridge." He pointed to the bridge on the right, and I noticed a ton of blue dye on the part of the wall that was visible from the bridge.

"Brick, Mouse, you're up. And you." I pointed at a trooper from Squad 3 who had a blaster rifle.

"You're are gonna lay down suppressive fire to let Mouse and Brick go on the bridge. Then you two will clean up the top floor. I'm gonna lead the rest of us with an attack from the bottom. We'll use the vehicles as cover to get across. Then we'll hit them right as they get hit up top. Stan, Thorn, Toby. You hearing me?"

"Yea."

"Is the sniper taken care of?"

"Yes sir. His pretty blue bonnet got a nice red coat."

"Good. I need Stan and Thorn to come to the building with Toby. We need you three to cover for snipers when we are moving across the ground. Then I need you to cover the third floor of the yellow building so that you can take down blues we corner up there."

"Got it."

"Great." I sprinted downstairs and the six remaining clones followed me. We got to the doorway and were met with a fusillade of dye. One member from squad 3 got hit in the chest. His suit beeped and a big red X appeared. Hands raised, he went back to our corner of the arena.

One of Squad 5's troopers chucked a nade across the street. It didn't make it into the room, but the explosion of red gave us an opportunity to get behind a few vehicles into the road. Dye balls started flying past us at high speed. From their trajectory, I could tell that they were coming from surrounding balconies.

"Thorn, Stan, Toby! We got snipers around us and we're exposed!"

"Toby's down. I got one of them down when they shot at you."

"And the other?"

"I'll keep him occupied so Thorn can get to a better angle. He won't be popping up."

I grabbed a nade and blindly threw it in the general direction of the blues. If I popped my head up, I knew I would get mowed down.

"Brick and Mouse, Now!" I yelled as we ran the final stretch into the room. The room quickly became a slaughterfest. Apparently my nade made it inside so I managed to take out a large portion of the defenses there in one swoop. The rest who took cover were dispatched of rather easily. With the downstairs taken, I started to move upstairs. I peeked around the edge of the staircase and almost got hit in the face by a shot from Mouse's repeater blaster. There was cover up here that blue was using to their advantage. When the repeater blaster finally ran out of ammo, the blues started peeking up to return fire. I tried to shoot them before they got their shots off, but I was too late. Mouse and the guy from Squad 3 got hit. The raid on the first floor took the remainder of Squad 5 and one guy from Squad 3. So Including me, we have six guys left. Not bad.

"Thorn. How're things?"

"Stan got hit, but I got the sniper. And nobody came to floor three."

Make that five guys.

I turned to the two remaining clones from Squad 3. "Names?"

One said "Brock" and the other said "Q".

"Got it. Squad 8 and Squad 3, you copy?"

I heard yes from all. "Good. I hear shots in the road behind this building. That's our next target. Thorn, can you get a visual?"

"Just a sec. And… got it. There are a few reds fighting a lot of blues. No snipers that I can see. You guys going in?"

"Yea. Come on." I peeked into the street and quickly assessed the situation. About three squads worth. Most of the blues took a defensive spot behind some vehicles. There was one straggler though who was standing behind a vehicle that was farther back than the others. From the look of things, nobody was aware of our presence. Perfect.

"Stay hidden until I make a move. Thorn, I'm counting on you to protect me."

"On it."

I quietly crept out and over to the straggler. The goal was to knife him so that I could get a behind one of their vehicles. There was no cover on the way there, so drawing attention would be suicide. The knife was silent. As soon as I knife, he'll make noise, then the other guys will pop out and distract them. I hope.

I tried to stay as quiet as possible as I got to him. I was out in the open, so if anybody turned around I would go down. Thankfully the few reds were doing a great job of distracting them.

I got to the guy and quickly took him down, then dropped to the ground and hugged the vehicle as blue realized I was here and started shooting in my direction. The cacophony of projectiles hitting the vehicle was deafening. I waited for the rest of Squad 8 and 3 to come out, but nothing. Only Thorn was taking shots at them.

"Guys!" I yelled.

That's when Squad 8 and 3 showed up. And that's when I realized how stupid my plan was. I realized that Brock and Q had scattershots, which would be ineffective at that range, and Brick didn't even have a gun. All he could do was lob nades, which would catch me in the blast.

That's fantastic. I took my rifle and blindly started shooting in the general direction, hoping that I wouldn't get hit. My only goal was to buy time so that Brock and Q could move close enough. I ran out of ammo, and the shooting resumed, with Brock and Q both going down.

"I'm out of ammo" Thorn reported.

Oh boy. There was only one hope left.

"Brick, throw a nade. Don't worry about me."

"Yes sir." He reared back and gave a beautiful toss down the street to where everybody was. I watched the red ball arc threw the air. When it landed, a huge explosion of red engulfed me and the rest of blue, ending the firefight right there. I shook some red dye off and looked down at the large X on my chest.

Just then, a large horn went off and I heard Darin through the speakers around the arena. "Congrats Red team! You have won the round!"

I spotted Thorn as he jumped down from the building he was in, using the different platforms to parkour his way down.

"Hey. For a freshie, you're not that bad."

He grinned. "You're not too bad yourself, old-timer."

"Hey."

He laughed. I like this guy.

We all made our way back to the room with the crates where Darin was and got back in the groups we were in.

"Congratulations everyone. I'd say you did pretty well for a first time. We're gonna keep the same squads as before. The environment is changing as we speak, so you guys will have a whole new place to duke it out. Feel free to change the weapons you.." He trailed off and started looking around. "Defensive formation. To the door."

Instinctively, we all turned and dropped down on one knee, with every gun pointed at the door.

We probably look really stupid. What good are all these dyeballing guns against an actual threat? Are we gonna drown them in paint?

Darin ignited his saber and stepped in front of us towards the door. The blue blade would certainly attract the attention of whomever was coming.

A figure dropped down from somewhere up above (which is a terrible strategy but I won't complain), and my finger went right to the trigger, as did every other clones. The figure was wearing blue and orange armor, and had blasters in hip holsters.

When the figure dropped, Darin raised his saber, ready to strike. Then, he retracted the blue blade and shook his head. "I told you to stay at the room."

A clearly female voice responded. "I got bored."

Darin smiled. "You're wearing your armor again."

"It felt like the right thing to do." She looked behind the General at us. "So this is the welcoming committee?"

"Oh." He turned to us."Stand down."

We got off our knees and put the blasters away. I walked over to where Kravhenn and the flying lady were standing and took off my helmet.

"Sir."

"Oh. Right. Tag, meet Sadie. Sadie, Tag."

Sadie took off her helmet and reached to shake hands. She appeared to be slightly younger than Darin was. And she was attractive. Darin's ladyfriend, perhaps? He did mention a room.

But Jedi weren't allowed to have those kinds of relationships.

"Nice to meet you" she said with a smile.

"And you too ma'am. Sir, how do we get all of this dye off before the next game?"

"Don't worry. The suit has monitors to tell you if you get hit, and if the amount you got hit is enough to take you down in a real battle. If it is, you get the X."

"Yes sir, I get that. But the dye? Don't these need to be clean?"

"No, they have the X for the-"

"Jeez Darin. You suck at this." She turned to me and said "No. They're yours."

I looked in surprise at Sadie, then at Darin. If he allowed her to say that about him, those two were almost certainly together. Jedi never took insults from anyone except other Jedi.

I said "Thank you ma'am" before going to the other clones to get ready for the next match.

**-Darin-**

"You know, I could have said that" I said as Tag left.

"But you didn't. And you were taking too long."

We stood in silence for a little and watched the clones horse around. The freshies were already starting to develop personalities. I could sense the differences in the Force.

"So why are you here?"

I could tell this question made her uneasy.

"What would you do if somebody told you to do something as their dying words?"

Oof. Her grandpa huh?

"I'd do it."

"What if it goes against everything he's ever said before?"

"It depends on what it is. But for the most part, yes. Why?"

She nodded. A button on a remote in my pocket beeped. I pushed it, the doors opened, and the clones spilled out into the arena. I gave it twenty seconds, then I pushed the button for the horn.

"May I ask what he said?"

She thought about it, and I could tell she was wrestling with whether she should or shouldn't tell me. Finally, she said "He told me that he wanted you to train me. He didn't care if I needed to join. He wanted the best for me."

Tentatively, I asked "Are you gonna do it?"

Almost grudgingly, she said "I think so."


	13. Chapter 13

**-Sadie-**

"Have you ever done this?" I asked.

"Taught someone? No."

We played a few rounds of dyeball with the clones, then Darin left them to clean up and brought me to the abandoned facility that I had lost my helmet at. It was midday and the sun was beating down on the tarmac.

He grabbed a bucket and tossed it to me. I caught it easily and held it up with a questioning look.

"Put it on."

"My head?"

"No your leg." He started rummaging through some things in a pile of junk, occasionally throwing some of it into another pile.

I looked in the bucket. It wasn't dirty, but I really didn't want to put it on my head. "Why am I doing this?"

"Do you want to learn or not?" he said without looking up.

Grudgingly, I put the bucket over my head. "What's the point of this?" Every word was magnified by the rusted metal covering my head.

"You'll see."

"Actually I won't."

"That's the point."

I opened my mouth to respond when I was hit in the chest by something metal. I had my armor on, but it still hurt.

"Ow! What the kriff?!" I exclaimed as I tried to take the bucket off my head, only to find that it wouldn't budge.

"Let me go!"

Another piece of metal hit me in the arm.

"Stop it! That hurts!"

"Get out of the way then." Another piece of metal hit me in the leg.

"I can't! You won't let me take this ridiculous thing off!"

I heard some chatter, then a piece of metal hit me in the back. I turned to that direction, and heard some laughter coming from my right.

A piece of metal hit the helmet, stunning me. I heard someone yell "Deadeye!" and a bunch of loud celebrating. This was embarrassing.

I heard someone walking by me and the bucket was lifted off my head. I looked up and saw Darin looking at me with amusement. Behind him were a couple clones with random metal parts in their hands.

"I hate you."

He shook his head. "Would you like to throw these at me?"

I smiled with glee and handed him the bucket. "Absolutely."

I rushed over to where the clones were and grabbed a small piece of a broken X-Wing wing. The clones looked at me with confusion until I said "It's his turn now."

I aimed at the bucket-wearing target in front of me, and threw it as hard as I could. He stepped to the left and it sailed harmlessly past him. I grabbed another random metal bit from the pile and threw it at him. He dodged it as easily as the last one. The clones started throwing at him as well, with all pieces sailing harmlessly by. I got more and more frustrated as everything I threw missed. When I threw the last piece at him, he caught it easily instead of dodging and took the bucket off.

He looked around at the mess. "I think you missed."

I stared at him with loathing. He tossed the bucket my way, then used the Force to quickly pick up the mess and create the pile again.

"I can't do it."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Because I can't see it."

"You think I can see it?"

"No but you have the Force."

"There's the problem. You don't believe that you can do the same. Do you know why I made you wear a bucket?"

I shrugged. "To be frustrating?"

"To force you to the Force. It's usually instinctual, but not for you. We need to go deeper. The first time you use it is the hardest because you need to find it. Put it on. Go again."

He walked away, leaving me with little choice but to put it on. I waited for something to happen, for it to suddenly appear, when I got hit by a piece of junk again.

"Stop it!" I yelled in anger.

"Calm down. Don't focus on the anger."

"It would be easier if you didn't throw things at me!"

"Ignore your senses. Think of nothing. Empty yourself, and it will appear."

Oh yea sure. That makes sense. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a shot. I sat down on the hot ground, closed my eyes, and tried to think of nothing, almost like when I try to fall asleep. After a few minutes, I was about to give up when I noticed something. There, deep in the emptiness, was a thing. I couldn't make out what it was. Curious, I focused my attention on it. As I concentrated, it seemed to grow in my minds eye. As it grew closer and closer, I felt more and more connected to it. I realized that I was in the emptiness now. I could see myself and touch myself, but when I looked around all I saw was an inky void of nothing. I stepped cautiously to the thing. It appeared to be a mass of some kind of vapor or smoke or something. Whatever it was, it seemed to be alive. I could tell it was watching me, and when I stepped towards it it scurried away to keep me at a safe distance, like a frightened creature. Unsure of what to do, I got on one knee and slowly reached my hand out to it with the palm up. The form recoiled slightly, but didn't move away from me.

"It's okay" I said gently. "I won't hurt you."

The form seemed to quiver there and analyze me. As I kept gently coaxing it to me, it slowly started to approach me. Soon, the form was right next to my hand. I could reach out and touch it, but something told me to let the form initiate contact. It reached out a tendril of vapor from itself to carefully touch my hand. Instead of going through me, like I imagined it would, the tendril solidified and felt my hand. It felt warm and alive.

I smiled. "You're safe now."

Suddenly, the form leaped at me and I watched in horror as it tore through my chest.

I gasped, opened my eyes, threw the bucket to the side and scrambled away from it as fast as I could. Breathing hard, I frantically took in my surroundings. I was back on the tarmac. The sun was low, meaning some time had passed. Darin was the only person still here. He was sitting on the ground and smiling curiously at me.

"You're back."

"Where was I? What was that? What did it do to me?"

"Calm down. Slowly, tell me what happened."

"I was in another place and this smoke thing was running away like it was afraid of me and I stuck my hand out and it came to it and touched me and then went through my chest."

He nodded thoughtfully. "That's the Force. Or at least, your interpretation of it. You found it."

"My… my interpretation?"

He nodded. "I was curious as to why you haven't had any indication of Force sensitivity. My thought is that for you, after what happened to your parents, you hated anything to do with the Force. Your grandpa was probably also fueling the flame a bit. But you can't destroy it. So instead you tried to suppress it, and that's why it was so hidden and why it avoided you. It stayed with you, locked away, until you sought it out."

"So… now what?"

"You learn to channel it."

"How?"

"It'll happen instinctively at first. Then when you do it a few times, you'll get the hang of it. It's like being potty trained."

"You're going to… potty train me?"

He grabbed the bucket and tossed it at me. "Call it what you want. Lets go."

I put the bucket back on and stood, waiting for him to throw. I had the Force. I could do what he did.

I felt a tug, an overwhelming urge to duck. A fraction of a second later, a piece of metal hit the bucket.

"I felt something!"

"That was an old cylinder from a Corellian freighter."

"No, I mean with the Force!"

"Huh. Could have fooled me."

Okay fine. I'll show you. I stood at the ready, waiting for another instinctual urge. This time, it told me to go to my left. I moved, and a second later I sensed the gear fly past me.

"Heyyyyyy, nice work!"

"Thanks! Am I done yet?"

The metal bar that hit me across the back told me that I wasn't.


	14. Chapter 14

**-Sadie-**

After finding the Force, Darin showed me how to meditate, which would allow me to cultivate the energy inside of me. He also told me to use the Force because the more I used it, the stronger it became. The more I meditated, the more control and understanding I would have. He spent an entire hour stressing that a balance of use and introspection would yield the best results.

Since I was tired of meditating, I walked out of the room Darin forced me to have and into the living room. A blanket and pillow sat on the table and the holovision was turned to some show about a smuggler and a princess, which I turned off. It was a good show, but I didn't have time.

I closed my eyes and focused on sensing the life around me. Darin told me that eventually I'll be able to do it with little effort, but that takes time. When I opened them, the world around me was gray, and the Force in all sentient life around me glowed a pure white. I sensed a new presence three floors down which seemed rather young. Four rooms from us, I could sense the pure white tendrils snaking around the room and interacting with the surroundings. The closest presence came from the balcony.

I walked outside and found Darin sitting on the ground and meditating with his back to me.  
"Yes?" he said without turning to me. I think that at this point, he has this whole life-sensing thing activated all the time.

"I got tired of meditation."

He smirked, but didn't say anything. I took a seat in one of the chairs.

"Did somebody get a new apprentice three floors down?"

"You felt that too, huh?" I could hear a hint of pride in him. He then stood up and stretched, a loud popping coming from his back, which was followed by a sigh of satisfaction. He turned to me and said "Let's learn something."

"Now?"

"Yea. Come on. Sit down." He gestured to his mat on the floor and I sat.

Excited, I asked "Am I going to learn how to make things float?"

"No" he said as he pulled up a chair and sat directly in front of me. "You're learning how to close your mind."

Confused, I asked "Why do I need to learn that?"

"When someone hasn't found the Force or can't access it, their mind is partially closed. Their thoughts can be easily accessed, but you have to actually try to access them. When you find the Force and are learning to use it, your mind is wide open as you learn to project your thoughts and harness the Force. Think of it as your mind being completely bare, choobies on display and everything. It's really distracting, and really difficult to avoid. You've been projecting your thoughts all week."

I knew I was blushing, but I tried to ignore it. Maybe Darin won't notice. "You saw ALL my thoughts this week?"

"No. I've done everything I can to avoid it. And to tell you the truth, I don't want to know what goes on in there half the time."

Thank the maker. I've definitely had some risque thoughts.

"Come on. You wanna learn how to do this or not?"

"Sure."

"Okay. Sense the Force in me. Tell me when you're ready, and I'll show you what to do."

I closed my eyes and concentrated. The world around me turned grey and Darin was surrounded by the white tendrils of energy. Usually they're a transparent white mesh-like pattern, but his were brighter, thicker, and more numerous than anything I've ever seen.

"Whoa. Why's it so bright?"

"Wait really?" he asked before the Force around him dulled, shriveled, and some of the tendrils disappeared, making them look like everybody else's.

"Sorry. I try to subdue it more to avoid attention. I'm a bit distracted."

"That was subdued?" I asked in wonder. "What's it like when you don't restrict it?"

"Pray you never find out. Come on. You ready?"

"Mmhmm." I watched as the energy condensed and created what looked like a cocoon around the golden shape I knew as the mind. They then unraveled and he said "You try."

I willed the Force to create a bubble around my mind. It took a little, but I finally got it to move in the way I wanted.

"Not bad for the first time" I heard Darin mutter. I felt something gently poke at my bubble. I looked and saw the tiniest thread of Force touching mine. I watched as it grew slightly and poked with a bit more force. This time, it pushed in my protective layer without actually going through, creating a dent in the previously perfect sphere. I willed it back to its original form, and he poked again with the same size tendril. This time, it held.

"Good. You learn quickly."

I felt proud of myself when suddenly a bolt of energy hit my bubble, thoroughly destroying the entire thing.

"It needs to be stronger. You must have one up at all times. It must be second nature. Even while you sleep, it must stay strong."

"Yes sir" I muttered.

* * *

I woke up the next morning feeling like I didn't get any sleep at all. After Darin showed me how to create the mental shield, he bombarded it for the rest of the day. It was exhausting. I barely ate any dinner. I just didn't have an appetite. I couldn't meditate or use the refresher in peace. I couldn't enjoy a shower. And while I slept, he continued to hit it again and again.

I groaned as the onslaught hit again. From every angle, the shield was buffeted by coils of energy. The barrage continued until the shield was nearly broken, at which point they retreated and I repaired my defenses.

The one good thing I have noticed is my shield has gotten better with each assault. It's gotten tighter, stronger, and easier to maintain.

I got out of bed, grabbed some clothes and headed to the shower. As I turned the water on, another barrage hit. When I was in the shower, he hit with another. By the time I finished, got dressed, and went to the main room where Darin was, I was hit with three more.

"Good morning" Darin said cheerily. He didn't look at all like he's been laying a relentless siege on my mental fortifications for the past eighteen hours. I yawned, said good morning, then asked what he had in front of him.

He held up the beautiful blue cube in his hand and said "This is Jodi."

"Good morning" said a cheery female voice.

I shook my head. I must be losing my mind. This exercise is ruining me.

"It's a Jedi holocron." He reached across the table and picked up an equally marvelous red pyramid and said "This is Seth."

"Good morning Sadie Wren. I'm terribly sorry about your grandfather" said a silky male voice.

Before I could process what he said, Darin sternly said "If you don't want to be a doorstop again, I suggest you never try to mess with her head again."

"A bit ironic, isn't it?" said the pyramid before it flew out of his hand, down the hall, and into the refresher.

"He's a Sith holocron. Sorry."

"Jodi for Jedi and Seth for Sith."

"Yea."

"Huh. Not very creative."

He stared pointedly at me, and I grimaced as my bubble was hit by so much force that it broke in two.

"Jerk" I muttered as I put it back up and sat next to him on the couch.

**-Darin-**

Shortly after sitting down, I heard a light snoring coming from my left. I glanced over at Sadie. Her head was tilted back and her mouth was slightly open.

Instead of attacking her barrier again, I decided to let her rest. She deserved a break.

She said that she wanted me to push her as hard as possible. She had an innate desire to learn and learned very quickly. By pushing her barrier to its extreme and having her repair it over and over, I was accelerating her progress by an unimaginable degree. In one day, I was able to get her barrier from being feeble and weak to being on par with the majority of Jedi.

But this had drawbacks. What I was doing bordered on torture, and I felt terrible about it. I told her time and again that we could slow down, but she refused to hear it. I couldn't help but admire her determination.

The ringing of the commlink interrupted my thoughts. I was being called by Grand Master Tun.

* * *

When I entered Dora Tun's office, I found her, Grand Master Kaidin Margos, a human Jedi, and Grand Master Abe Flick, the Mon Calamari Jedi from the meeting, sitting around a table.

"Afternoon Grand Masters."

"Afternoon General. Sit down please" said Dora Tun as she waved to a spot at the table. I sat down and inspected the walls of the office. It was bright white and resembled the walls of Kamino. I turned back to the Grand Masters.

Dora Tun, who was head of Cloning and Clone Assignment, spoke first. "We three like to talk amongst each other, and you've come up quite a bit in our recent discussions."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Abe Flick, who was head of Jedi Placement and Assignment, took notice and said "You're not in trouble. We just have some things to discuss."

This made me even more uncomfortable. Both Tun and Flick looked to Kaidin Margos, who was head of Intelligence. He gathered his thoughts and said "Recently, some rather questionable things have happened regarding you. When I looked deeper, I was left with more questions than answers. I was hoping you could clear things up."

I shrugged and said "Depends on what you ask."

A brief smile appeared on his face, but was quickly masked. "Very well. Grand Master Tun heard from Flor We that when you took your platoon, you also accepted the platoon of clones that the other generals labeled as 'defective'. Can you explain why?"

"I saw nothing wrong with them and thought it'd be a waste to just throw them away."

"Know that what you did is highly appreciated and you are very highly regarded by all Kaminoans" Dora interjected. Kaidin nodded. "Indeed you are. Soon after, Grand Master Flick got wind that you applied for a Padawan. I thought this rather odd. You recently became eligible, and you immediately put a request. Why?"

"Master Joren was rather inspirational."

He nodded as if this was a valid answer. "Now, recently an informant told me that you went to meet Bebo the Hutt. Within the next two days, the drug trade took massive hits. Can you elaborate?"

I shrugged, but said nothing.

Kaidin looked at his notes, then spoke again. "We know that you're different from other Jedi. It's why you're here. We need to trust you."

I snorted. "So do I."

He looked to Tun and Flick, who both nodded. "Fair enough. We aren't fans of the Order either. It's no secret among the Council that if Grand Master Sorsee had his way, I would be long gone. He completely disregards anything that comes from the Intelligence unit and actively works to suppress it. Abe and Dora's roles don't even exist anymore. Now all Abe controls is Padawan assignment and Dora has virtually no power. Grand Master Sorsee has taken control. Is that enough?"

These guys were risking a lot even saying that. I'm going to take advantage of the power that I have for now. "That depends."

"On what?"

I leaned forward. "The padawan. I want it official and I want the information to be in your records, but I want you to enter it in exactly how I say it, with no questions asked. And I want it done immediately after this meeting."

Without hesitation, Abe said "Done."

"Good. Then I'll trust you for now."

Kaidin laughed and shook his head. "You're better at this than I thought."

"I like to keep people on their toes. So why was I called here?"

"I want you to join the Systems Intelligence Agency. I had all of my resources and information at my disposal, and yet I couldn't touch Bebo. You waltzed in and did in one night what I've spent weeks trying to do. Your record shows a history of disobedience with authority as a child, and I don't see any evidence of this mindset changing. You'll still have your clones. They'll just be referred to as Special Forces."

"So you want me to join your little posse of nerf herders because I can do what they can't?"

He ignored the insult to his men and said yes.

"And what about Sorsee?"

"He can't touch Intelligence. Not without overwhelming support in the Senate, and the Senate will never give him control of all Intelligence affairs."

I sat back in my seat in silence, as if I was making a decision. In truth, I had already made my choice. When a sufficient amount of time passed, I leaned forward and asked "When do I start?"

I could see the relief appear in the Grand Master's faces. Kaidin said "Tomorrow. The Noreno system. Master Joren's fleet was grounded. They've been able to hold out, but won't survive much longer. Sorsee refuses to send any ground forces to help them out, claiming that it won't be worth it. I don't have much in the way of resources. Objective is to get him and his soldiers out. You come up with the plan. I know it's not usual SIA work, but we've made it a habit to try and rescue those Sorsee won't."

My emotionless face hid the jab of fear that first appeared when he said that Master Joren was down. I asked "Why are you so sure I can pull this off?"

He grinned. "You don't become a champion in Bebo's Arena through pure luck."

I stared blankly at him, and he said "Don't play dumb. We know more than you think."

I nodded, and said "We better get those papers for the padawan finished then."

* * *

By the time I returned to my room, the sun was down and night had arrived. I had a plan for getting on the planet, but not one for getting off. I'll come up with something, I'm sure of it.

When I walked in the room, I found Sadie's mind and attacked it. When I felt I was about to break it, I pulled away to watch her repair it.

I let out a little pulse through the Force. This was the signal I used to let her know I was coming in, so be decent. I heard her say "Come in."

"How was your nap?"

Without leaving her meditation trance, she said "It was great. Without you attacking, I actually got some rest."

"I got some good news" I said as I sat on her bed.

She opened an eye and looked at me.

"You're officially a padawan."

"Wasn't I already a padawan?"

"No, but now you're allowed to walk around the Temple and nobody will question you, and you have the authority of a padawan."

She snorted. "The authority of a student?"

"A student with superpowers."

She nodded, and I got up to leave. I hesitated though. Part of me wanted to take her with me, but part of me didn't. I decided to leave it to her.

"Hey. I got something to ask you."

Without opening her eyes, she said "What?"

"I'm getting deployed tomorrow. Me and the clones are going to the Noreno system. It's incredibly dangerous, and I came up with the plan so there's a high chance of death."

"Stop trying to talk me out of it. I'm going."


	15. Chapter 15

**-Sadie-**

Darin is a lunatic. Our strategy for getting on Noreno? We're being shot out of our ship from space. From SPACE. He's officially lost his mind. As have I though, because even after he told me, I still wanted to go.

I sat on a rusty metal box in the dirty hold of the ship. It was an old ship, but had some 'modifications', as Darin put it. Apparently he got bored at some point and decided to try his hand at creating a new troop deployment system. As anybody does when they're bored.

I heard the door open and turned to see Darin walk in and sit next to me.

"You still sure about this?"

I hesitated slightly, but nodded. I felt unsure, just as I did before the Gauntlet so long ago. Back then, I was nervous about if Darin could pull his own weight. This time, it was different. I wasn't nervous about Darin's ability. He's more than capable. I was scared of what I would see down there. I've seen plenty of death, but the arena was different. The arena was more controlled, but here Darin would not be able to protect everybody. I would have to hold my own weight. I realized that I was afraid of disappointing him. At first I thought his selfless actions were because he was either desperate for friends or manipulating me. But as I grew to know him, I realized that it wasn't either of those things. Instead, it seemed more like he was driven by some sort of creed, similar to how Mandalorians have a code of honor that they live by. I was afraid that if I broke his code, he would treat me the way Mandalorians would. Shunning me and damning my existence.

"Do you know anything about what we're going up against?" he asked, startling me from my musings.

I shook my head no, and he pulled out a holocron with a picture of one of those stocky aliens that were on the ship where I rescued Darin.

"This is a Burhaj. They're about one and two thirds meters tall on average, so they're shorter than you. They have rough, thick skin that provides a natural armor. They have large muscular forearms and can move on all fours, but stand on their hind legs when running and in combat. They breathe sulfur gas, so they have to have a tank of breathable air. Senses are average. They're the bulk of the military. The SA uses them as bantha fodder because they reproduce like nothing else. Not too dangerous on their own, but they can easily swarm you. Try to avoid hand-to-hand combat." The picture changed and a large bipedal creature appeared. It's legs had two knees, one normal and one backwards, making them look broken. "This is a Seyley. Try not to mess with it. It's about two and a quarter meters tall. I'm a bit shorter than two meters so it towers above me. They're incredibly strong and agile. They are their equivalent to the Jedi, and many Jedi have died to these things. Some of them use some variant of a lightsaber. They do use shielding tech on their armor to make them even more powerful."

"How do you beat them?" I asked. They seemed pretty powerful to me.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. For some reason, these are the only two species I could find records on, and that's when I broke in and used the stuff they taught the clones. This is quite literally all the info we have."

"Are these the only species?"

"I don't think so. I've seen some tapes of battles and it looked like there were more, but the quality was really bad."

"That's ridiculous."

"I know." His commlink beeped and he quickly glanced at it. "It's time. Get in a pod."

**-0000-**

The blockade of Noreno was going wonderfully for the SA. The Jedi couldn't push through, leaving a stalemate. Eventually, the Jedi would give in and Noreno would be theirs.

The Seyley Admiral watched in rapture as the wave of attackers got weaker and weaker. He was able to defend every other wave that the Order sent. This will be no different. Surely, after this he will be promoted to Grand Admiral.

One of his Lieutenants spoke, bringing the Admirals concentration back to the battle.

"Sir, there's a ship coming out of hyperspace."

The Admiral walked to the back of the bridge and checked the Lieutenants monitor. Sure enough, a ship was arriving.

The Order sent reinforcements at relatively equal intervals. This ship didn't line up with the schedule and was coming from a different direction entirely. Odd, he thought before disregarding it and watching the battle before him. Probably a smuggler. Nothing to worry about.

He noticed that a ship emerged from hyperspace rather close to them. What a junker, he thought. It was one of those really old orbital bomber models that he thought were all gone. It's massive body was covered in rust, and it had virtually no weapons other than the missiles on its underside. He tried to remember what type it was, but the name failed him. They were deemed useless and scrapped long ago.

"Call it, tell it to turn back" he said calmly to one of the Lieutenants.

"It's not responding sir."

He watched the trajectory of the ship. It seemed to be going directly at the Gemini, a Disruptor model Dreadnought which was one of the keys to his blockades success.

When it came a little close for his liking, he ordered a warning shot, which did nothing to deter the old piece of junk. If anything, it started moving even faster towards the dreadnought. Having seen enough, the Admiral ordered the snub fighters to attack it. He was forced to use the fighters because the ship was coming from the Dreadnoughts blindspot, and if it turned then the Order could advance. Firing on it with the turbolasers would be dangerous. He didn't want to hit the Gemini.

"The shields are too strong sir! We're barely making a dent!"

The color started to drain out of his face, paling his usually dark grey skin, as he watched the ship come closer and closer to the stern of the dreadnought. The fighter pilots were forced to turn back and come in from a new angle, else they would ram into the ship. As they were flying away, he watched as the rustbucket unloaded all of its missiles at once into the planet below before ramming into the dreadnought, causing an explosion far larger than should have normally been possible. He watched with a mix of horror and fascination as the fires from the explosion caused a chain reaction throughout the dreadnought, before it hit a central fuel supply and the whole ship went up in flames.


	16. Chapter 16

**-0000-**

"General! General! Come quick! You need to see this!"

A clone ran inside of a small shelter that they had made from rubble they'd found and that was used as their little base of operations. A little less than a kilometer away from the base, the trenches of the rocky ground were being used as a defensive front. On the other side, there was a large stretch of land where nobody dared to go. The SA had turrets and their own trenches that were being used to lay siege to the crashed party. The rocky ground they were standing on was actually the bottom of a large stretch of mountains which created a large imposing wall to their right. On the left was a vast sea of sand that stretched farther than the eye could see. The trenches that they were using were the remnants of a previous mining operation.

Fral ran outside after the clone and looked in the sky to where he was pointing. Instead of seeing the large dreadnought that had been visible since they crashed, there was a massive ball of fire. A wave of hope flowed through him. The blockade was broken! He rushed to the holotable and called the Fleet Commander to make sure that they knew where his men were at for pickup.

"General, we didn't cause that explosion."

The response confused him. "What do you mean? What else could have caused it?"

"An ancient model of an orbital bomber came out of hyperspace and destroyed the dreadnought."

"So you mean it wasn't the Order?"

"Nope. We had no idea it was coming. But with the dreadnought out of the way, we'll be able to break their blockade."

The Fleet Commander cut the call and left Fral standing and searching for answers. Nothing made sense.

"General! We have incoming!"

Fral ran out again and stared at the sky. Sure enough, a cloud of missiles were streaking through the sky towards their general location. He had no idea how many there were, but it was certainly enough to level their location. They had no way to shoot them down. There was no chance of escape. The missiles were already too close. Fral stood firm, accepting that he would die here. He watched the missiles come closer and, to his surprise, he noticed that thrusters that were previously unseen on the bottom activated, slowing them until they the first softly landed on the rocks behind them. Then another. And another.

"Approach with caution" he ordered. Slowly, the clones crept towards the first metal husk with Fral following slightly behind. All had their weapons drawn. They formed a loose semicircle around the first missile, which landed substantially closer to their camp than the others did. The clones tensed as the side facing them began moving, revealing a door. The door opened, and out stumbled a fully armored clone.

"Freeze!"

The alien clone stopped walking and put his hands up.

"Take your helmet off!"

Slowly, he pulled off the helmet, revealing that he was in fact a clone. The other clones relaxed and Fral walked towards him.

"Who are you?"

"Names Toby" he replied calmly as he turned to the pod and pulled out a blaster rifle and a scattershot.

"What's your number?"

This caused the clone to tense slightly, then say "I don't go by that anymore."

Fral had no idea how to feel about that. The number was always what the clones went by. Personally, he found it inefficient and inconvenient, but he never did anything about it. Toby was quicker to say and easier to remember than something like TR-6803. It's rather difficult to make clones use other names for themselves though.

"Ok. Toby. Why are you here?"

"We're the cavalry."

He noticed that while talking to Toby, the other capsules had opened and clones were reacting in various ways to the ride. Most stumbled and fell, a few seemed exhilarated, and a couple of them threw up. He left the few clones who made the semicircle around Toby at the camp to answer any calls from either the trenches or the Fleet and walked around. There were easily at least a hundred of these things. Something in the far back caught his eye, and he walked towards it.

"... you're insane! We could have died!" a female voice yelled.

"That was amazing!" cried a male voice.

There was a small pause, then she said "Yea. That was pretty wizard."

As Fral walked closer, he made eye contact with the bearded human male. He had a goofy smile and was on an obvious adrenaline rush. Fral stared at the young man, then started laughing.

"You finally got a beard!"

Darin laughed and said "Yea. Thought I could make it look better than you."

"Impossible."

Darin glanced at Frals beard. It was usually a mess, but being stuck on the planet allowed it to get even wilder.

"I don't know. You look a bit like an unwashed homeless man."

Fral grunted and said "You try being stuck on a planet without mirrors."

"You never use a mirror" he said with a grin

"Fair point. I wasn't told you were coming."

He shrugged. "They didn't know."

Fral lazily kicked at one of the pods and asked "So what's this? Never seen anything like it before."

"It's a repurposed missile. I had the idea a while ago. Had someone remove the warhead, change the wiring so the-"

Fral waved his hand. "Mech nonsense. So how'd you get here?"

"This style of missile fits a really old orbital bomber ship." He watched as Fral put the pieces together.

"YOU destroyed the dreadnought?!"

Darin smiled mischievously. "Took an alternate hyperspace route, filled ship with explosives, shot us out before it crashed into the ship."

Fral shook his head in wonder. "How do you come up with these things?"

"Its a gift."

The female Darin was talking to walked up to them. Fral recognized the armor and palmed his saber, but a sphere of energy surrounded his hands and forced them to stay on the handle without igniting it.

"Darin…" growled Fral.

"She's friendly. Put the saber away." The energy field disappeared and Fral put it away, although not without hesitation. Sadie took off her helmet. Fral realized that she was younger than Darin, though not by much.

"Good. Sadie, this is General Fral Joren, my former Master. Fral, this is Sadie Wren, my padawan."

"Your PADAWAN!?" He stared in shock at Darin. "You made her your PADAWAN?"

"It's a very long and complicated story."

"That doesn't matter. She's not a Jedi. She wasn't raised in the Temple."

"Neither was I. And technically the paperwork says that she is."

"And nobody cross-referenced anything?"

"I may or may not have become allies with Grand Masters Flick, Tun, and Margos."

"How exactly did you do that?"

"Uhmm… I took an extra platoon of clones labeled as defective and I joined the SIA."

"I asked them to make you a General. Just a simple request. And they did. Then you took extra clones, got an illegal padawan, and joined the military branch that the government likes the least. What were you thinking, joining them?"

"They kinda recruited me after I destroyed a large portion of the Coruscant drug trade."

"Not even gonna ask about that. Why do you even have clones then?"

"They allowed me to keep them. They're Special Forces."

He turned to Sadie. "Are you sane?"

"I like to think so."

"Good. I want you to knock some sense into this child" he said, motioning at Darin.

She nodded and smiled. "Will do General."

"How much has he taught you?"

"Sensing the Force and mental defense."

"Seriously?"

"To be fair, we started very recently" Darin interjected.

"You need to teach her to defend herself. Or use the Force offensively."

"You should test her mental defenses."

He rolled his eyes and sent a powerful barrage in an effort destroy her mental shield quickly. It was his preferred tactic, and one that's worked well against many other Jedi. To his surprise, her barrier batted away his attack with no problem at all. He tried again and again, with the same thing happening each time. Finally, he gave up.

"I think she's quite capable of defending herself, don't you Fral?" Darin said with a victorious smirk.

"Oh yea. Because the Burhaj are known for mind tricks" Fral said sarcastically. "So what's your plan now to get us off this planet?"

"With the dreadnought destroyed, maybe some ships will come to get us."

"MAYBE?!" Sadie exclaimed. "Your big rescue depends on a MAYBE?!"

"I'm coming up with another plan."

Fral said "You might want to hurry up. We're sitting ducks here, and the SA is getting restless."

**-Sadie-**

I was counting rations when I heard Darin's voice in my head.

_Sadie._

I sighed. This whole telepathic thing he did was annoying. When I was in school, I had a classmate who would take medicine because she would hear voices in her head all the time. Every time he did that, I think of her.

_Sadie._

I imagined writing 'out of my kriffing head' on a piece of paper and crumpling it up. I then imagined throwing it as hard as possible at Darin's face.

_I heard that. Nice work. _

Wait that worked?

I tried it again, but this time with 'what do you want'.

_Come here. I'm where the missiles landed._

Excited, I got up and sprinted to him.

"Did you hear me? Did I do it?"

He smiled and nodded. "You figured it out on your own. Impressive."

I looked around. "So why am I here?"

"Do you sense anything?"

I focused, and the world grayed around me. I realized that it was much easier to do now. I tried to sense the Force around me. To my right, I felt a massive absence. I don't know what the range of my senses is, but I felt almost nothing, which was expected because its a desert. In front of me was Darin. I sensed the clones that were far behind us, and even farther I sensed some strange beings that I've never sensed before. Probably those new species. But to my left, where the mountains were, I sensed life. A lot of it.

"The mountains. Something lives in them?"

"Close. Something lives behind them."

I stared at the impenetrable wall of rock. Its enormous height made me feel like a puny insignificant bug. The peaks seemed to stretch into the infinite horizon. Clearly, nature was doing everything to keep up from the other side.

But if there's one person who can get past this thing, it's Darin. We were shot from a ship in space and landed on the ground safely. Obviously he's able to give nature the finger and be no worse for wear.

"Whatever you're thinking, I'm on board."

He looked at her curiously. "You sure?"

"No. But your dumb ideas are our best chance of survival."

"Thanks. I guess."

**-Darin-**

I quietly slipped out of the camp. Night had fallen, and the temperature fell with it. Blitz and Hal were on guard, but didn't do anything to stop me. As I walked, the sound of blaster fire grew louder and louder and I could see flashes of light. I was approaching the trenches.

I called the clones on the trenches and told them that when they saw me on the battlefield, they need to retreat and get everybody awake and ready for evac.

If Sadie knew what I was going to do, she'd probably call me an idiot. She seemed to insult me every chance she got.

In one fluid motion, I jumped, using the Force to give me bonus height. The Force already augmented my physical prowess, so I was able to get some serious air.

I loved this feeling. As I reached the peak of my jump, I used the Force to push me forwards. My cloak billowed behind me as I basically flew through the air.

When I judged that I was at the right distance, I stopped propelling myself forwards and allowed myself to freefall to the ground. Before landing, I used the Force to slow my descent so I would land unharmed. I used the Force to put the hood of my cloak over my head. I sensed the clones stop shooting and retreat. I was in the middle of no-man's land. The shooting had stopped from the side of the SA when they noticed me land in the middle. I could sense their curiosity. I slowly stood up and started slowly walking towards the SA.

I heard the squeaky voice of a Burhaj yell "Stop!", but I kept walking. I could sense some confusion from them, then sensed a much more domineering presence appear. I heard the gruff voice of a Seyley tell me to stop, and when I didn't he gave the order to fire.

I was already poised to attack, so when I sensed in the Force that they were about to fire, I already had my sabers in hand.

As the Burhaj fired short, fat, green plasma bolts at me, the blue blade in my right hand came to life and swatted them away with ease while I ignited the darksaber in my left hand and threw it, decapitating four Burhaj before it returned to my hand and I sprinted at them, the two sabers in a spinning dance of light as they batted away the shots. I covered the distance to their defensive line in no time and sliced through a turret before it could begin firing. I used the Force and threw the severed gun at another turret, knocking the gunner out of it before he could begin firing at me. The Burhaj began running from me and screaming in terror. Good. A few brave souls stood back and fired at me. I used the Force and threw them back into the rock wall of the mountain. I looked around and found their drop ship. I was about to sheath my sabers and run to it when all the Burhaj who ran from me returned, this time with four massive Seyley towering over them. They were a whole head taller than I was. Three of them wore blue armor, but one of them was wearing armor that was blood red.

He gruffly yelled "Sreav in Wort!"

I didn't understand its meaning, but the blue Seyley pulled out their rifles and began firing at me, the red pulled out two, each of the Burhaj began firing, and I was forced to defend. He must be the leader. I crouched behind a metal container that contained supplies and grabbed a Burhaj pistol, hoping to fire back at them. As soon as I grabbed it, I realized that I had no clue how it worked. The technology was something I had never seen before. As I fumbled around and tried to find the trigger, a bright yellow orb landed next to me. I tried to quickly use the Force to fling it back, thinking it was a grenade, but it wouldn't budge. It was like it was stuck to the floor. I threw myself as far away from it as possible and threw up a Force shield to protect myself from any debris. I landed in a small depression in the ground right as it exploded in a flash of yellow. I could feel the force from the blast, but there was very minimal debris. I really didn't even need the Force shield to protect myself. The barrage of plasma was all around me. I sensed another yellow orb coming my way and intercepted its flight with the Burhaj pistol I had managed to hold onto. The orb stuck to the pistol, and I tossed the gun with the nade attached in the middle of the pack of attackers. When I heard the explosion I darted out of the depression and at the attackers. Most of the Burhaj were caught in the blast, though a few managed to survive, albeit not without being severely wounded. Most of the Seyley were unscathed, though one had dark blue blood seeping out of a large wound in his chest. The red Seyley noticed me running at them and starting shooting his dual blasters at me. They each fired much faster than the ones the troopers used. His two alone felt like having to swat away the bolts of a repeating blaster, except from different angles. The other Seyley quickly recovered from the blast and began firing. I ignited the darksaber and used both blades to bat away the shots, controlling the angle so that they come back at the Seyley. The one who was already bleeding wasn't able to dodge the bolts and quickly met his demise. I started aiming the shots at the other blue Seyley, quickly depleting their shields and taking one of them out before he could get to safety. With the blues hiding until their shields returned, I turned the attention to the red. I Force pushed him backwards into some large metal crates. Without a moment to lose, I sprinted to the drop ship and jumped in. After quickly finding the cockpit, I pushed some buttons until I felt the ships engines turn on, then grabbed the wheel and flew the dropship out of the wrecked base.

**-Tag-**

As per the General's orders, I made sure that all the clones were prepared and ready for evac and that all the supplies were rounded up. Under normal conditions, if two squads of clones run back from the front lines, wake us all up, and tell us that the General ordered them to retreat and get everyone prepared instead of fighting, those clones would probably be shot for conspiracy and attempted sabotage. The Order drew a very hard line about things like that.

But this was General Kravhenn we were talking about. When I showed him the announcement from Grand Master Sorsee stating that nobody goes to Noreno unless specifically deployed there by him, he looked at it for a few seconds before throwing it in the trash can next to him. He clearly didn't have much respect for the Order or its methods.

I heard Sadie yawn, which made me yawn too. I didn't even realize that she was standing next to me. We'd let her sleep in a bit, and I guess as we got ready we woke her up.

"Morning Commander." In the Order, the padawan was always the Commander.

She yawned again before grumpily saying "It's not even morning."

"You have any idea what the General has planned?"

"No idea. I don't think I want to know." I felt the same way.

"Bet you five credits that he comes back with an enemy ship."

She grinned. "You're on."

We waited in silence. Light murmurs could be heard from the clones, but it was clear that everyone was too tired to really do much.

I noticed a dark shadow in the sky that was coming towards us. I recognized the shape of the craft to be an Alliance dropship. As it got closer, I was able to make out the turrets on the bottom, the elegant curvature of the hull, and the dark purple of the armor plating. "Can you sense who's inside?" I asked Sadie, sure of the identity of the pilot. I watched her focus, then pull out a scrap of paper and quickly scribble 'IOU 5 CREDITS' in big black letters followed by her signature before handing it to me. I took it and stuffed it into a pocket under my armor, grinning victoriously.

**-0000-**

The Seyley admiral gulped nervously before accepting the call. A Zeltron male with blue hair appeared.

"Greetings Admiral."

"L-L-Lord Terrias. The destruction of the dreadnought-"

"Was catastrophic and could very well have cost us control of Noreno."

The Admiral hung his head. Darth Terrias was known to be unpredictable and prone to outbursts of destructive violence.

"I was going to behead you and mount your head on my wall, but Lysis reviewed your report and managed to change my mind."

Lysis was the Zabrak who acted as Terrias' right hand. His genius was unmatched in the Alliance.

The Admiral bowed and said "Thank you, my Lord."

"That isn't all. I have heard news from the Lieutenant leading the siege on the survivors of the crashed ship. There was an attack on their base that destroyed a garrison. His report tells of a single attacker who managed to destroy most of his forces."

"Impossible. Who could do such a thing?"

"His report claims that he used the weapons of a Jedi, but fought like a..." his eyebrows knitted together as he tried to remember the word. "A Wort! Yes, he called it a Wort."

This sent a cold chill down his spine. "The demon?"

"That's what he said. I've spoken to Than Valum about hunting down this 'Wort' demon."

The Admirals eyes widened. "The Vindicator?"

"Indeed."

The Zeltron disappeared. The Admiral placed his hand on his chest, each of his four long fingers pressed down firmly, then pulled his hand away and balled it into a fist, as if pulling something out of him. Then, he raised his hand to about where his mouth was and opened it, as if releasing the contents into the air.

The end was approaching.


	17. Chapter 17

**-Than-**

I approached the throne room of Lord Terrias. His ship, _Ascension_, was his home away from home. Officially, it was a Star System Silencer, a gargantuan ship that contained enough weapons and troops to lay waste to a system without any support, though it never went anywhere without a personal fleet of Class Two Star Destroyers, Corvettes, Venators, Interdictors, Bombers, a Dreadnought, a horde of Assault carriers, Freighters, Gunboats, Gunships, Troop Transports, a few Scouts, some Shuttles, and more snubfighters than I can imagine.

The doors opened in front of me, and I walked onto the red velvet carpet that led through the middle of the jet-black floor. On either side of the carpet were two pillars made of the same black material as the floor. The only difference was that each of them had glowing cuts in them, intricate designs that would be impossible to see if they weren't a different color. The designs came together to create flames that encircled the pillars and reached all the way up to the ceiling above. The red carpet split off to either side of the circular room and ran along the edge of the wall, until circling back around to the other side. There were no windows here. Instead, soft overhead lights illuminated the path to the throne, and the edges of the carpet glowed bright red. The walls had the same design as the pillars did, the glowing flames that looked to be trapped within the smooth black surface. Past the pillars, on either side of the carpet stood a wall of Seyley guards, each outfitted with ceremonial gold armor which had the most powerful shield tech out there. They each held large silver and gold staffs, but were trained in combat using most any weapons amd were armed to the teeth. These were some of the most powerful warriors of my species. On the far end was a throne made of the same mysterious rock, but lacking the designs. It was awe-inspiring and intimidating at the same time. That was the point. Lord Terrias used this room to meet, impress, and intimidate. Behind the throne was a door that could barely be seen that led to his personal chambers and a slew of other private rooms he would use.

I recognized Charybdis, and I felt my blood boil. Charybdis was a Junel, a species of two and a half meter tall brutes with tough leathery skin that was covered in short hairs. Their strength far surpassed that of most species who were known for their strength, such as Wookies, Lasats, and Trandoshans. They've even proven themselves to be adept at eliminating Jedi. They could be intelligent, but brute force was their preferred method. In many ways, they were very similar to Seyley. An intensely proud race of naturally capable warriors who expected to be the ones on top.

The tension and distaste that existed between the two was only natural. Both saw the other as a natural competitor.

I was no different. My role in the Alliance was not safe from competition.

For all intents and purposes, Charybdis was the Junel version of me. I walked towards Charybdis' hulking frame and stood beside him. His large frame towered over me, making me feel like a mere shadow.

"Vindicator" he grunted, his deep voice a reminder of the dangerous beast that hid within him.

"Charybdis" I said in return.

Despite our differences, there was a sense of mutual respect between us. Both of us were proven to be some of the most powerful warriors of our respective kinds and earned the right to act as Terrias' weapons. Most referred to me as Vindicator, even the Junel, out of respect for my position. The Alliance kept certain things from the species that joined it in an effort to satisfy them. The role of Vindicator was a Seyley tradition given to a warrior of the highest caliber. They saw this as a wonderful tradition to keep, although it was slightly repurposed.

Charybdis had silver hair because of his age. However, his age did not make him weaker as what happened in most other species. He was just as strong as he was in his prime. His age showed that he was an extremely capable fighter who has survived countless battles, an impressive accomplishment considering the frequency of fighting within the species and their tendency to utilize brute, lethal force for most encounters.

"Thank you for coming, Valum. I know I just sent you to hunt down this… demon. However, Charybdis has informed me of something much more pressing. I don't know much about this demon your kind believes in, but news has spread rather quickly, and some Seyley have organized a rebellion and turned on us. The traitors have moved to Lothal and began speaking out against us. I have sent the Specs to silence these traitors, and I want you to assist them."

"As you wish, my Lord." I disliked the idea of killing other Seyley, but that didn't matter. My loyalty was unyielding.

"Dismissed" he said, waving at me to go.

* * *

I wondered why I was being sent out on this mission. Charybdis would love to slaughter some Seyley. He wouldn't even hesitate. Instead of going directly to the Specs, I decided to head to a training room on the _Ascension_ to see if I could get some information.

Inside one of the training rooms was a Zabrak who was dueling with a few assassin droids. I knew Lysis would be here.

When he heard the door open, he held up a hand to pause the droids so he could see who entered. When he recognized me, he put his hand down and continued slashing at the droid with the stick.

"What is this demon that the other Seyley keep muttering about?" he asked.

"A religious monster."

He stopped the droids again and turned to me, wiping sweat from his face. He was different from most other Zabraks. His orange skin had no tattoos whatsoever.

"Interesting."

"I'm sure you've heard that some have denounced the Alliance. I've been sent to track down these traitors."

He nodded. "I have heard that. I assume you want to know why you were chosen as opposed to Charybdis?"

I nodded, once again impressed by his deductive reasoning.

"The resistance came from the garrison on Lothal, consisting of Seyley and Burhaj only. They are a rather specialized unit. Good at mid-range style combat, perfect for the rolling hills of the Lothal plains. But they've shacked themselves up in the hyperdrive factory on Lothal. That's where you'll be dropped off. They have home-field advantage. Charybdis… well… you know Charybdis. He's a violent and aggressive monster. He may be more strategic than the other Junel, but not by much." He said this with a slight hint of distaste. Lysis always did value cunning and ingenuity. It's why he and I got along so well. Lysis had few friends, and it's safe to say that I am on that rather exclusive list. "Him and whatever team he brings will be eliminated in no time."

"Not exactly a bad thing" I grunted.

He smiled slightly, breaking the emotionless facade he always keeps up for a brief moment. "Agreed."

"What about Grellan?" Darth Grellan was Lord Terrias' apprentice.

"Grellan is still busy."

"What's he been doing? He's been gone for months."

"I am not privy to that knowledge as of yet. I believe it has something to do with those trips Lord Terrias used to make to that old cargo ship a while back."

I remembered those. Lysis had mentioned them at some point to me.

"I miss the guy. Hope he returns soon" said Lysis. He never revealed emotions around anybody except us, and even then it was rare without any Mandalorian ale to loosen his tongue.

Grellan was pretty cool. Lysis, Grellan, and I used to be the only ones in Lord Terrias' inner circle. Well, a more inner circle than most, anyways. We three spent a lot of time together, and a friendship between us seemed to naturally grow. Where Lysis could be more intense at times, Grellan was the life of the party. He was loud, funny, and a fantastic storyteller.

"Me too." The door opened and a Junel walked. He spotted me and gave a low growl, but stayed in the room. I gave a quick goodbye and left the room before I 'accidentally' hurt him.

**-0000-**

Lord Terrias was in his chambers, fuming. As soon as he heard news of Noreno, he called his informant, but got nothing. He was forced to step away and act unfazed, as if this was nothing. But his rage was boiling inside. He was barely holding back the desire to destroy anything around him. He paced in his room like a caged vornskr.

At long last, a ringing came from his holoscreen. He waved his hand, using the Force to answer the call, and continued pacing. A hooded figure appeared, face completely concealed by a mask.

"Hello, old friend" said the figure in a robotically distorted voice.

"Hello? HELLO? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED WITH NORENO?!" he screamed, finally letting his anger out. "I WAS TOLD IT WOULD BE A SIMPLE PLANET TO GET! EASY RESOURCES! ACCESS TO OUTER RIM PLANETS! A PLANET THAT THE ORDER WOULDN'T CARE ABOUT! "

The figure remained quiet as he screamed for a few more minutes. Eventually, he seemed to run out of things and just sat down, his muscles relaxing from the cathartic episode.

"The bomber was not one of ours. They weren't deployed. No records of them exist anywhere."

"Then who are they? Huh? SOME OF MY MEN ARE TURNING BECAUSE THEY THINK THAT THIS JEDI IS A DEMON!"

"I'm not sure. Not anybody under the Council's control. A rogue Jedi maybe?"

"A rogue Jedi? A rogue Jedi? You said that they're too blind to go rogue!"

"I may be mistaken. I will look into it, and I will try to get as many answers as possible and report to you."

He nodded, partially satisfied with the response.


	18. Chapter 18

-0000-

Kaidin was waiting nervously. Grand Master Sorsee had requested an audience with him. Kaidin felt he knew what this was about. The stunt on Noreno. When he'd heard the news, he was shocked. Even now he couldn't believe it. Any other time he'd sent people to perform covert operations, they would do them… you know… covertly. In and out, nobody bats an eye. It allowed him to fly under the radar and do things that would completely disobey orders from Grand Master Sorsee.

This meeting was Darin's fault. There was no denying it. If he hadn't been so large in his entrance, Sorsee wouldn't want to see him. He wouldn't be afraid of losing his job, his freedom, or his life.

But what he did was impressive. He was able to turn the tide with an attack that the Alliance never saw coming. He saw an opportunity and seized it. It doesn't matter who you are, you've gotta respect that.

A chime went off, and Kaidin walked into Grand Master Sorsee's office.

"Sit."

He sat in a chair and stared cooly at Sorsee, feeling the tension fill the air.

"I'm sure you've heard about Noreno."

He nodded cautiously, his mind racing in the different directions he saw this conversation going.

"Who did it?"

"Why would I know?" Kaidin asked. He hadn't expected Sorsee to be so direct.

"You're head of Intelligence. And I know I sure didn't authorize it."

"So I'm expected to know everything?"

"That's your job. And don't think I don't know about a few other little 'excursions' you've authorized. You have a history. I'll ask again. Who was it?" As he said that, Kaidin gasped. He was hit with a mental attack from Sorsee. It felt like his head was being crushed, the pain unbearable. He couldn't think, he couldn't speak, he couldn't move. After what felt like an agonizing eternity, the pain dissipated and Kaidin fell forward, sweat dripping from his face and hands trembling.

"Kravhenn! Kravhenn! Kravhenn!" he screamed at him.

Sorsee sat back, surprised. "Kravhenn is a part of Intelligence?"

"Damn right he is" said Kaidin, voice shaking.

Grand Master Sorsee waved his hand and threw Kaidin out of the room, knowing he probably wouldn't be able to walk out on his own. He put Darin Kravhenn and Fral Joren on the missing persons list with orders to notify him whenever found. They would show up eventually.

* * *

A few days after he added them to the missing persons list, he got a call from the base on Ryloth. Joren, Kravhenn, and company were en route to Coruscant. They'd come from the rocky crags with no supplies and no ship. The lead Jedi there, Maani Kodd, recognized Joren and let them take a ship.

-0000-

Lysis was reading in his chambers when he got a message summoning him to Lord Terrias' conference room. He sighed, then marked his place in Artist of War and placed it in a box, which he locked and placed in a vault, which he had hidden under a floor tile under his bed. The key he put on a string around his neck and tucked under his clothes. He stepped back and made sure that there was nothing giving away the location. When he deemed it satisfactory, he left the room.

Artist of War was Lysis' most prized possession. As far as he knew, it was the only copy, making it invaluable. It was a combination of thousands upon thousands of transcripts, records, routines, deployments, orders, mannerisms, philosophies, arguments, beliefs, observations, and everything else possible about Lysis' idol that was put together by his closest advisors and anybody who interacted with him. Lysis aspired to become his idol, doing his best to mimic everything about him. The demeanor, the stance, the workout routine, the tactics, the leadership style, the philosophy, everything. He had earned the book through months of grueling searching, planet hopping for information, dangerous risks, constant dead ends, and mind-numbingly difficult puzzles, which usually led only to a miniscule snippet of information. He had persevered, and through his intellect and determination, he had found it. And when he found it, he learned why it was so difficult. The information inside was meant only to be found by someone who possessed the traits of his idol.

In his youth, he had been ostracized for his father's actions, hence the lack of tattoos. This led to his childhood being a life of constant torment and abuse. His only escape was the library, where he could lose himself in the worlds that the authors would create. He learned to speed-read and absorbed the information like a sponge. By the age of 7, he was reading literary masterpieces that the majority of adults struggled to understand. As he got older, he started to move away from the fiction and towards non-fiction. He became an intellectual juggernaut, teaching himself many different languages and studying a multitude of scientific fields, ranging from xenoecology to xenoanthropology to psychology. It was his research in xenoanthropology that led him to his icon, and started his search for information.

He walked into the conference room of Lord Terrias, who was standing before the holoscreen and speaking with Grellan. Lord Terrias motioned for him to stay silent and to come by him so that Grellan could see him.

"Lysis! Good to see ya!" exclaimed Grellan.

"Same here. Been a long time."

Lord Terrias interjected. "I've brought Lysis here to fill him in. I've kept him in the dark, but now seems like a wonderful time to inform him."

Grellan nodded. Terrias said "Grellan has been on Malachor, training some pupils in the ways of the Force. One has recently proven herself to be ready. She will be taking a place by my side, just as Charybdis has. An equal to you and Valum. As the strategist, I believe that it is best for you to know first."

Lysis nodded, saying "Will Grellan be returning soon?"

"Maybe for a little, but I've gotta go back" he said dejectedly.

Lysis nodded. "Should I tell Valum and Charybdis?"

Lord Terrias shook his head. "Valum is already en route to Lothal, and Charybdis is… busy. When both return, she will be here already."

Lysis nodded obediently. "Yes m'lord."

"That is all. Dismissed."

"See ya Lys" Grellan called.

"And you, Grellan" he responded.

As he returned to his chambers, he was struck with question after question. What was she like? Who was she? What kind of combatant? What did she excel at? Why did Lord Terrias say she would be an equal to him and Valum, but didn't mention Charybdis? And probably most importantly, what did he mean by equal?

He pushed the questions aside, knowing that he would have them all answered later. It was something he had learned to do.

His search for Artist of War forced him to hone the abilities that he couldn't learn from books. Being able to analyze the environment instantaneously, inductive and deductive reasoning, manipulation, thinking quickly on his feet, avoiding the limitations of functional fixedness, lying, spotting a liar, thinking from multiple perspectives, seeing the bigger picture, weighing pros and cons, seeing many potential consequences to any action, and so much more. The search forced him to use these skills to the extreme, and this usage allowed him to successfully become his hero.

The search began out of curiosity. But it soon became an obsession. It was all he could think about. All he could work towards. It became his everything. After reading it time and again, he had a revelation. The obsession HAD to be there. That was the whole point. That single name that would run through his head, that was meant to be like that. The purpose of Artist of War was to create another, just as powerful as the first. And the single obsession with the book, it transformed into an obsession with becoming him. Becoming just like the name.

Becoming Thrawn.


	19. Chapter 19

**-0000-**

Darin was sitting in Sorsee's conference room and staring innocently at Prale. He sensed no anxiety from the young man, no fear, no tension, nothing but calm. This irked him. He expected others to feel some anxiety, to be a little nervous when meeting him. Yet here sat a guy who knows full well why he's here, and he's giving no indication of even being a little worried.

"You ignored my orders that nobody is to go to Noreno unless specifically ordered."

He shrugged, but said nothing.

"Why?"

"Master Joren was in danger."

"How did you find out?"

"Grand Master Margos told me."

He nodded as the pieces began falling in place. "So you joined the SIA?"

"Your order would have stopped any attempt at getting to him. They were the only other alternative I saw."

"You brought your clones with you. Why?"

"I didn't know what to expect. Grand Master Margos' intel was severely lacking. I thought it better to be prepared for anything."

Prale smiled slightly. The jab at Kaidin and his Intelligence unit was not unnoticed. He sighed and asked "Do you know why I said that nobody is to go to Noreno?"

He shook his head, saying "Not exactly."

"We are in a war with the Alliance. A war that stretches across the galaxy. We only have so many resources, and they need to be spread across the galaxy to be as effective as possible. If I let everybody go wherever they pleased, then the war would be a decisive loss for us. Does that make sense?"

Darin nodded.

"There's two issues here: attachment and insubordination. Attachment, as you know, is forbidden in the Jedi code. Now, I'm on your side here. I can easily write it off as a tactical decision. But the insubordination cannot go unpunished. If I didn't punish you, it would set a precedent that anybody can break the orders without consequence. Usually, it would result in revoking your title as Jedi and casting you out. But you did manage to turn the tide on Noreno, and you rescued one of our better Generals. That deserves a reward. So you can see how I'm at an impasse."

He nodded but remained silent.

"I'm putting you on planetary arrest for one month. You can do whatever you want on this planet, but you can't leave the planet without notifying me and getting my approval. That sound fair?"

"More than fair. Thank you, Grand Master."

"You're welcome. You can go now."

**-Than-**

I held on tightly to a bar on the ceiling of the dropship. Inside were a few rows of Seyley and Burhaj, all of whom wore white armor and had their backs turned to me. They were the Specs, an elite team that were sent on suicidal missions for the Alliance. Rather fitting that I was among them, as my role was virtually the same.

I stood against the far wall, well away from the front. They had their way of doing things, and I did not want to interfere.

A Seyley walked up to me and stood by my side. Ster Bureem was his name, and he was the commander of the Specs.

"Lord Terrias has ordered you to come with us. We are honored to have you among us, but you aren't one of us. Remember, their lives matter to me. Yours does not" he said under his breath.

"Feelings mutual" I responded. He gave a grunt of respect, and walked towards a weapons crate.

Subconsciously, I traced the large groove on my chest that was not covered by my armor, the edge too perfectly circular to be accidental. When I realized what I was doing, I quickly jerked my hand away from the scar.

I had gotten it not long before I became an adult. I was top of my class, excelling in combat of all forms and in the general studies. My future held nothing but promise. I would make my tribe proud and would be a model soldier of the Alliance. I could have had it all, but it was all taken from me before I had a chance. Before I could officially become an adult, my brother was caught selling Alliance secrets to the Hutts. All living family was branded with the mark of the traitor, a series of crossed lines inside a circle, and sentenced to death. I tried to escape and was almost successful, but was captured and forced to watch the rest of my family die because I tried to run. When it was my turn, I was more than ready for death. I couldn't live with the memories. But death never came. I impressed Lord Terrias with my fighting prowess and then my escape attempt, so much so that he stopped my execution and granted me the rank of Vindicator, but I could never rejoin my tribe, or any tribe for that matter. Once you were branded a traitor, you couldn't come back from it. Now I had nobody. I was the last of my namesake.

I didn't attack Ster for his comment about my life not mattering to him. It barely did to me. For some Seyley, my mark was something that could never be undone, and I was a traitor forever. For others, my role as Vindicator overruled the mark.

"Twenty minutes till we reach the LZ" said the pilot over the intercom. I watched the Specs shuffle in nervous anticipation and toyed with the plasma rifle in my hand. It wasn't my preferred weapon, but it would be more effective in the close quarters hallways of the factory they decided to hole themselves up in.

* * *

We reached the LZ and two openings on the floor opened on either side of us. Quickly, everyone jumped out and landed on the hard ground below. I was the last to jump out, and after I jumped the ship rose and left leaving us alone. I followed the shiny white armor of the Specs as they quietly sprinted towards a wall. A hook was thrown up and caught on a vent cover, which was then ripped off with relative ease.

"Vindicator. You take the lead. We will follow" said Ster. The point position was one that held honor in the Seyley culture. The deference of the position to me was a sign of respect, and Ster's willingness to give up the position that would usually be his was a move that I rarely saw from other Seyley.

I nodded and jogged over. A few Seyley bent down and clasped their hands together. I stepped on the hands, and on three they threw me up. I grabbed onto the ledge and pulled myself up. The vent was large enough for me to stand in, and I quickly crept through until I found an opening. The motion tracker remained quiet, so I jumped down and landed as silently as I could. I quickly looked around, and didn't see anything. I quickly typed '257' and sent it to Ster, telling him it was clear.

Instead of going ahead and scouting farther, I waited until the rest of the Specs showed up. I heard some rumbling, and soon after Ster fell through the hole.

He looked at me, surprised, then nodded at me as he realized what I did. He was expecting me to go on ahead and remain point. I do have a reputation of being a lone wolf.

Slowly, the Specs started to trickle in. The Burhaj came after Ster, then the Seyley after.

When all the Specs were in the room, Ster motioned for me to lead. I nodded and slowly crept forwards through the dark room until I came upon a door. The motion tracker started showing some red behind the door. I pushed a button, and my shiny dark grey armor disappeared. The Specs followed my lead, and soon all of us had active camo. It wasn't true invisibility. The perceptive eye could still tell where we were by the way that our bodies distorted the images. However, the distortion was the only visual indication, and even to a trained eye it was extremely difficult to track. I pulled out a sleek metal hilt and rubbed a button with my thumb. I held my hand up and waited for the red dot to approach. When the red dot got close enough to the door, I walked towards the door. The motion sensor activated, and I quickly darted through. I took a hiding spot behind a large box and took in my surroundings. The hum of machinery rumbled through the walls. A barrier was in front of me, and to either side were stairs that led to the walkway up top. I spied the one guard, but had no idea how many more there would be. I crept behind the sole guard and activated the hilt. A whitish-blue blade sprang to life. The blade was thinner than the normal lightsaber, and had a slight curve to it. It also had a small blade that stretched from one end of the hilt to the other and curved in the same way the blade did. The two blades could be turned off or on independently. The small blade was fantastic in hand to hand combat. It was like having brass knuckles, but with a blade of plasma. This blade could also protect my hand from other sabers in a duel. I quickly stabbed the guard through the chest and pulled him behind the box. I opened the door and motioned for the Specs to follow. I watched the environment ripple as they quickly darted to my side. We spread out, a few going up on the catwalk and the rest going on the ground around the barrier. The Specs were a small force, so it ended up just being two groups of six. I went with the ground force. We got around the barrier to see that it was actually a large covered lift for some large blue energy cores. They were moving on an assembly line and coming from the lift to the opposite end of the wall. On the other side, I could see the power cores entering holes in the wall next to a lift that led down.

Just then a green bolt scorched the wall behind me. I started running, green bolts whizzing behind me. They must have noticed us. I ducked behind a small outcropping in the wall and listened to the sharp _thock_ of the guns.

Carbines. They were using carbines. I would know that sound anywhere. It was my favorite gun. This is just great. Out in the open, and they're armed with carbines. I heard blaster fire coming from the catwalk, and the carbine shots firing in return. I ran out of cover with my rifle and started firing at the Seyley on the ground. I dropped one, but the rest took cover. A quick motion track check showed me that the Specs with me were following my lead, although hesitantly. I sprinted towards where the Seyley were taking cover and ignited my saber. I quickly cut through one, but the others ran quickly and started shooting at me with the carbines. Knowing my shields couldn't withstand two carbines at once, I ducked behind cover before my shield was fully depleted. The Specs started firing at them, and the guards were quickly killed. I waited until my shields recharged, then stood back up.

"Alls clear up here" Ster said.

"They'll know we're here. We need to move" I said.


	20. Chapter 20

**-Than-**

We stepped off the lift and found ourselves in a large, two level, open area that looked like a central distribution unit for the power cores. There were openings for the cores all over the walls, and the assembly lines were connected to a large pillar that was directly in front of us on the far side of the room that the power cores were coming out of. The lights on the walls were an ugly light yellow color. We were standing on the top floor, and a large hole opened in the middle that led to a bottom floor, where more assembly lines criss-crossed the dark floor. There were ramps on either end of the floor we were on that led to the bottom floor, but to get to them you would have to walk all the way to the side with the pillar, about 50 meters away. This room was about twice as big as the one we met the first guards in.

Before we could really take everything in, doors opened on either side wall and out spilled Burhaj and Seyley. I heard some doors open below us and assumed the same happened downstairs. I sprinted for cover behind another outcropping in the wall without really caring what happened to the rest of the Specs. Thank the maker that the designer of this place put a lot of these outcropping in the walls. I don't know what their purpose is, but they're saving my butt. The green carbine shots fired past, and I heard a rapid metallic _shinck_ _shinck shinck _that I knew belonged to a thornhive. I watched as a Burhaj Spec on the other side of the room took some thorns in the chest and fell. Ster ran over and stood in front of the Burhaj, returning fire and felling a few. This surprised me. The Burhaj were cannon fodder throughout the Alliance.

A yellow orb landed next to me, bringing me back to the present. I ran, and heard the explosion, and felt the force of the blast on my back, but it didn't do any damage to me. The nades were meant to concentrate their destructive blast, dealing tremendous damage to the thing they get stuck on. I turned and returned fire on the attackers. I dropped a few Burhaj, then got into a firefight with the Seyley. He got a few good shots in, but I was able to evade well and tear down his shield, so he fell rather quickly. I ran and grabbed his carbine and looked across the large gap. There were more Seyley on that side, and they were doing a good job of shutting down the Specs. I sent the three Specs who followed me to go down and take out some guys on the bottom floor and aimed at the Seyley on the other side, getting multiple headshots and taking out the Seyley that were stopping the Specs. I ran forward without watching for them and started shooting at the guards on the bottom. The Specs I'd told to go down already took out one or two of them, so I ran along the inside of the wall and hit one of the Seyley in the back with the carbine, depleting his shield, before shooting him in the head. I noticed that Ster and the Specs who were on the other side had come down and started firing their weapons at the last of the guards, making quick work of them.

When the firefight ended, I asked "What's the damage?"

"Two Seyley" Ster said. I looked around and noticed that one of the Burhaj had bandages soaked with light blue blood. He must have been the one who got hit. I grunted and nodded at him before walking to the Seyley corpses to find more carbine ammunition.

When the carbine was full, I led the Specs down a narrow hallway that was off to the side. We traveled lower and lower, all the while fighting off more guards, until it finally opened up into a large hangar bay. To one side was a large opening where ships could enter, and there were lights on the ground that guided the ships towards designated landing zones. I noticed that the Ugnaughts were loading power cores onto a freighter as the Seyley ordered. I noticed one of them was wearing orange armor, signifying that he was the leader of a defensive force. He must be the one in charge. I watched him walk through a small side door, and two guards took positions on either side of the door when it closed.

"Take the Specs and take these guys out. I'm going after their leader. When you're finished, escape. Don't wait for me" I said to Ster. He nodded, then crept towards a group of power cores close to the freighter, the Specs following closely. I turned on my active camo, and quietly slipped towards the door the leader went through. When I got to the guards, I activated my saber and cut through both of them before they could even react, then slipped through the door in hot pursuit. I would not let this guy escape.

* * *

As I ran through the halls, the alarms began blaring. The Specs must have made their presence known. With stealth no longer an option, I broke into a dead run.

The walls were lined with doors, but they were all dead ends. The only path seemed to be the way I was going. I quickly spotted a sign that said that I was approaching another landing bay. I pushed myself to move even faster. The floor was a blur and my heart pounded in my ears.

When I finally reached the entrance to the landing zone, I noticed the orange-clad Seyley walking towards an airspeeder, which seemed to be the only kind of ship in the whole hangar.

"Turn, traitor" I said loudly, deactivating my camo and training the carbine sight on his head.

He turned to face me. "Than Valum. I'm surprised they sent a Vindicator to silence me."

I recognized the Seyley. He was Gayne Quelt, the tribal elder who ordered the assassination of my family. I felt the overwhelming urge to pull the trigger a couple of times and kill him now, but stopped myself. That kind of death was too good for him. I wanted to make him suffer.

"You have turned your back on the Alliance and on the Seyley."

"Says the marked traitor."

"You preached to me about treachery. And now you stand before me as a hypocrite."

He chuckled. "I'm no hypocrite. Your family turned on the Alliance. I turned on Seyenety."

"And the Seyley by extension!"

"No. No I haven't. You know the story of Wort?"

"Everybody does."

"Say it."

Without looking away from him, I said "Wort comes. There's a battle. The Seyley are torn to shreds. The end."

"No, no there's more. He hides, then calls another Wort. When we face this fake, he stabs us in the back."

My eyes widened when I realized what he was saying. "NO! Blasphemy!"

"The Seyley are blind, Vindicator. But I will make them see."

Plasma bolts whizzed past me, and I turned to see guards running from the hall where I came from. I turned back to Gayne, but that split second was all it took for him to jump into an airspeeder. I scrambled to an airspeeder and jumped in quickly, firing the thing up and chasing after Gayne, plasma bolts flying at me from all sides.

Gayne had the jump on me, but I was close behind him. There weren't any weapons on these things, so I was forced to tail him.

I landed behind him on a small landing pad and jumped out. I trained the sight of the carbine on the bastard and fired a warning shot. He paused, and turned to me.

"If you refuse to join me, you will die."

"No, you" I said before firing at him, hitting him in the chest. His shield absorbed the blast, but before I could fire again he ducked behind the airspeeder. I stood with my back against one of the speeders folded wings and watched his red blip on my tracker sit for a bit, then start moving quickly away from me, and I moved to follow. As soon as I left cover, a red blip appeared immediately to my left and I was able to move to the side just in time before a glowing whitish-blue blade impaled me in the chest. Instead of killing me, it stabbed my side, missing major organs but still enough to drop me to my knee. I let out a yell of pain, and a sharp kick in the face sent me sprawling on the ground, carbine flying out of my hands. I looked up to see Gayne rearing up to cut me down, helmet gone. I rolled to the side, barely avoiding the downward plunge of the blade, punching him in the head and then in the side. He let out a low _oof_ and collapsed to the ground as the force of the second punch hit him directly in the polop, compressing it and sending waves of excruciating pain through the digestive organ. I stood up, wobbling slightly, and kicked the blade away from him. I looked around quickly, found the carbine, and went to get it. When I came back to him, he was on his hands and knees, struggling to get up. I slammed the butt of the carbine on the back of his head, and he fell back to the ground. I stepped on the back of his neck and pressed down hard so that his face was digging into the pavement. He squirmed against me in a vain effort to escape. Coldly, I lined up the reticle of the carbine with the back of his head, and pulled the trigger.

The squirming ended abruptly, and I was left on the landing pad with the dead man. I didn't feel the joy or even the satisfaction I thought I would after killing the man who killed my family. Instead, I felt regret. I was no better than he was.

I heard a ship flying towards me, and looked to see the freighter from the hangar bay that I left the Specs at approaching me. As I watched it land by me, I held the carbine at eye level and aimed it at the hatch as it began to open. I was about to pull the trigger when I noticed that the blips on my tracker were green. I lowered the carbine and watched as Ster, the bandaged Grunt, and three Seyley walked out to greet me.

"I thought I told you to leave me."

Ster shrugged. "We were going to. Then Stroh noticed two airspeeders moving this way. Figured we would help out." He motioned at the bandaged Burhaj, who I assumed to be Stroh. He looked at the body and said "It looks like you finished the job. Come on. Let's get back to the _Ascension_."

I nodded and stumbled after them onto the ship. As I was walking, the pain from my side flared up more than ever and my head was pounding. I realized just how exhausted I was. My vision swam as I found a cot in the lounge and layed down, closing my eyes and letting myself drift to sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

-0000-

Grand Master Sorsee looked up from his reports as the door opened and Darin Kravhenn entered the room.

"Darin! How can I help you?"

"Grand Master, I understand that I have two weeks left of planetary arrest. However, I was wondering if you would allow me to travel to Ilum using the designated Ilum transport."

"That ship for the younglings?"

"Yes sir."

Sorsee leaned back in his seat and stroked his chin in thought. Darin WAS under arrest, but the ship he was offering to take was constantly monitored on their radars, and Ilum was a barren planet. There was only ever one reason to go there. Making his decision, he leaned forwards and said "Alright. Ilum and back. The pilot will come as well."

"Thank you, Grand Master" Darin said before leaving the office.

-Sadie-

"Why are we going to Ilum again?" I asked Darin for the three hundredth time.

"It's a surprise" he said for the three hundredth time. I sighed, then went back to levitating the broken data pad I'd found in the ship. Darin decided to use the time he was grounded to teach me how to actually do things with the Force. It was exhausting at first, but not as bad now. I could feel the Force flowing through me, a part of me. Ever since I learned to manipulate it outwardly, I felt more in touch with it, as if the Force was very slowly melding with me. This scared me. A few days ago, I was angry with Darin for being his usual pain-in-the-ass self, and in the middle of angrily yelling on the balcony at the streets below me, I realized that the Force in me became sharp, jagged, and volatile. It became explosive and difficult to contain, like a soda that somebody shook. I felt the overwhelming urge to release it, lash out and destroy things around me in anger. I knew that I wouldn't be able to control it if I let it out, but if I did nothing it would build up until it exploded. I wasn't strong enough to bottle it up, and I had no idea how to stop it or make it go away. Out of desperation, I tried to think of the good things about Darin instead of the bad that I'd been angry at. It seemed to work, and I managed to escape that moment without losing it. The memory of the fear stayed with me

I glanced at Darin, who had his eyes closed and was leaning his head back, as if trying to sleep. I don't know why, but I never told him about that moment. I was afraid of what he'd think, that he'd stop teaching me when he knew how easily I'd fallen into the darkness. So I took it and buried it, deep deep down, with the other things that filled me with fear, anger, or pain.

* * *

"Sadie. Sadie. Hey, wake up."

I opened my eyes and groggily looked around at the illuminated interior of the transport. I don't know when I fell asleep, but we were still in the same junk ship. I was lying on the hard bench

"We're almost there. Come on. You've gotta get ready."

I yawned and turned so I was facing away from Darin. "Five more minutes" I mumbled.

Using the Force, he lifted me off the bench, turned me so my legs were below me, and let go, forcing me to land upright. I stumbled, but managed to stay on my feet.

"Jerk" I muttered.

He shrugged, pointed at a door, and said "Coats, jackets, long underwear, snow pants, all that stuff is in that room. All freshly cleaned, all different sizes. Compliments of the Order. I suggest you change before we land."

I noticed that he was already wearing thick dark brown pants, black boots, gloves, and a black fur lined jacket with the hood up.

Grumbling, I walked into the room and was immediately taken aback by its size. It was a brightly lit closet of clothes that was much nicer than the rest of this ship. I stared at the clothing selection, feeling very overwhelmed. I've never had many clothes. I was poor, and basically all of my clothing was rather baggy. It was bought when I was going through puberty and grandpa didn't know how big I'd get. So he bought the big mens clothing since he refused to go in the women's store. I still wore them, even though they were very loose on my lean frame. They fit, and that's all I really cared about. The only thing that was truly to my size was my armor.

They were tailored for humanoid species, which made sense since most were of that general shape. The closet was divided into multiple sections, and in the middle of each was a range of numbers that indicated size. I had no idea what size I was.

I yelled "Hey Darin?"

I heard a muffled "Yea?" From the other side of the door.

"How do I know what size I am?"

There was a pause, and he asked "Like clothing size?"

"Yea."

"It should be on your clothes."

"Those clothes are big on me."

"Why do you have them then?"

"My grandpa bought big mens clothes for when I was growing to save money."

Silence, then I heard him say "Remind me to take you clothes shopping after this. Is there a chart anywhere in the closet?"

I walked towards the mirror on the other side, looking both ways, and found nothing. I turned and was about to yell at him that there wasn't when I stopped. On the back of the door I entered through, there was a chart.

"Found it." I walked to the chart and looked at it. It was based on height and weight and gave approximations for the size. I quickly found what should fit me and found the area in the closet where the clothes were.

As I was getting changed, I asked "So what is Ilum?"

Through the door, he said "A frozen, barren planet devoid of sentient life."

I pulled my shirt off, found a long sleeved one that fit, and asked "So why are we going there?"

"Because it has kyber crystals."

"What are they?"

"Crystals."

I rolled my eyes, and asked "What are they used for?"

"Building lightsabers."

I paused, then started putting on a sweater. "Why are you getting a new lightsaber?"

"I'm not. You are."

I stopped rifling through the coats as I processed what he was saying.

"I'm getting a lightsaber?"

"Yes."

I felt a rush of excitement. I was getting a lightsaber!

That thought ran through my head as I finished getting dressed and looked in the mirror. I had black pants, a white down jacket with the hood, thick boots, gloves, and a hat. I felt like a pillow. I left the closet, ready to pepper Darin with questions.

"So how do I find the lightsaber crystal?" I asked as soon as I went through the door.

"It calls to you."

Of course it does.

"Listen, this is important. I'm going down there with you. But I can't help you."

"Why not?"

"Because your path to getting the crystal is unique. The challenges you'll face are meant to hit you in your weak points. I don't know how else to describe it. It forces you to overcome personal struggles, or to make you better with using the Force, or something. I don't fully know, and I don't think anybody else does either. We just know the Force acts wonky, we suck it up, and we become better after the crystal."

"But why does it do that?"

"No idea. The Force is kind of like an entity, or a collection of entities. It's like a different one for each person, and it knows you really well and decides to make things difficult to make you overcome problems so you're better after. It's one of those things that if I try to explain it it gets really confusing."

"So you can't help me?"

"Nope."

"What if I'm about to die?"

"You won't. Planet is empty except for crystals, ice, and Force. The Force works with your Force. They challenge you, but you won't die. Your Force gets stronger as you get stronger. Killing you would be inconvenient for it."

"INCONVENIENT!?"

He winced. "I probably should have reworded that."

"You think?"

"Okay. Killing you would… cripple the Force. See, it needs you as much as you need it. It becomes stronger as you become stronger. On this planet, for some reason, it is able to move freer. It's got more Force in it. It's why the kyber is so powerful. But it works with the natural Force reserves. Basically don't worry, you probably won't die."

"Again with the words. 'Probably' doesn't make me feel better."

"We will land on Ilum in a few minutes." said the voice over the intercom.

"Well, the galaxy sucks and doesn't care about us feeling better."

* * *

Ilum was rather pleasant. And I mean that in the most sarcastic way possible. For starters, the usual landing pad that they had was in the middle of a blizzard, so we had to land a couple hundred meters out, and then the ship would leave us until Darin hit a little button and it would come find our location.

There were a few problems with this strategy. First, if the thing broke, we were screwed. Second, if we were in the middle of the storm, we were screwed. And finally, Darin always loses things. He was constantly putting things down and then forgetting about them when something else grabbed his attention. It was infuriating. I was a very organized person. With grandpa I gave up because it was impossible, but whenever I could I wanted clean and orderly. Darin said he like things to be orderly, but then he would just leave his files strewn about on the table, or leave a holocron in the refresher. It's ridiculous. I have no doubt that he's going to forget it somewhere. Place it on a ledge or something while climbing down and just walk off when he sees something shiny. And the worst part is that he has no idea! I offered to hold on to it so that we wouldn't die, but he dug his heels into the ground like a stubborn bantha! Said "I think I can handle a little tracker" and marched on through the snow!

I was fuming as I trudged through the snow behind him, my boots sinking into the snow and leaving deep tracks that would disappear shortly in the storm. I was glad that Darin told me it was cold, but I wish he had told me HOW cold it would be. I would have put on every layer of clothing available. Never before had I felt anything like this, and I never wanted to again. I'm a girl who's only ever lived on Mandalore and Coruscant. Mandalore was a planet where the sun beat down year round, and the worst Coruscant gets is a light snow. The freezing wind bit at any little bit of exposed flesh, chilling me to the bone. It was a completely new style of torment for me.

Darin stopped, took off his backpack which held emergency supplies, and started rummaging through it. Panicked, I quickened my pace. Oh Force. I swear, if he lost the tracker already, I'm going to strangle him. I thought What the hell are you doing?

Looking for something.

You lost the tracker, didn't you? I told you that you should let me hold on to it. I knew this-

He shot a dirty look at me and thought I didn't lose the tracker.

So then why…? I thought, bewildered.

I watched him pull his thermal blanket out of the pack and start folding it.

Really Darin? Now? Can't you fold the stupid thing after we get to cover?

He continued folding it, occasionally glancing at me, but ignoring my questions. I watched as the snow caught on his beard, speckling the dark brown hair with white spots.

He stood and held up the folded blanket for me to take. I just looked at it, confused.

It's a scarf, He thought.

A what?

A scarf.

I don't know what that is.

How do you not-

Because I don't. What does it do?

It's for your face.

Gimme that, I thought as I snatched it from him and tried to wrap it around my head.

You want some help? He asked upon seeing me struggle to get it to work.

No. I'm fine.

I finished putting it on by tying the two ends together in a knot in front of my face. When I finished, the scarf thing did almost nothing to protect me.

This thing sucks.

You got it completely wrong.

He reached over, quickly untied the knot, and unraveled the blanket from my face.

May I help you now?

Fine.

He took the fabric and placed the middle so that it covered my face and nose. He wrapped each end around my head once or twice, making sure to keep them tight, then pulled the ends through the fabric and let them hang down my chest. He smiled warmly, and I felt a flicker of happiness and embarrassment at our physical closeness. I felt myself blush, happy that the scarf was covering most of my face.

I averted my eyes, breaking the prolonged eye contact we'd been sharing. When looking away, I noticed how red his nose was and asked Do you need one?

He grinned and thought I got my beard. I'm good.

I don't think that that's how it works, but I didn't push. He put the backpack on and we resumed our trek to wherever the hell the crystals were.

He didn't forge ahead like he did before. Instead, we were side-by-side, fighting the biting wind together. We were in the middle of the blizzard now. The wind picked up speed, the air felt colder, and the howling of the wind became deafening. I knew that Darin was only a few meters away from me, but I could barely see him. The scarf, which seemed kind of pointless before, really came in clutch. By protecting most of my face, it reduced how much skin was exposed to the freezing cold to just the area around my eyes, which helped tremendously.

I noticed that Darin had moved in closer, so we were only half a meter apart. I glanced at him quickly, wondering if he needed a scarf. I couldn't see how anybody could survive this for long, but he seemed to be doing fine.

I could clearly make out the snow-speckled beard and the red nose, and I realized that if his clothes were white he would look a lot like Papa Snow. I debated on whether I should mention it to him, but I doubted he'll know who I was referring to, or find the humor in it. Now that I thought of it, he was very similar to Papa Snow. Not just the beard, but his quick smile, the mischievous twinkle in his eyes, and the ringing laugh. I pressed the scarf against my face and smiled. It felt good to have someone care.

Stop.

I panicked, wondering if he had seen everything I was thinking. Why?

I saw him tilt his head, as if listening for something. I sense something.

Relieved, I quickly switched to Force-vision, as I like to call it, and looked for what Darin was talking about. There was nothing.

Darin walked forwards, as if in a trance, and I followed along.

Darin. Darin are you okay?

He nodded.

Hey, you're freaking me out. What's going on?

He started running, and I scrambled to keep up. After a couple hundred meters of dashing through the snow, I sensed something incredibly faint. How he could tell from so far away, I don't know. As I followed him, the sense became stronger. It was hopelessness laced with fear and anguish. It was pain, suffering, and regret. Something terrible had happened here.

A few meters away, Darin stopped running.

What's wrong?

We must have gotten lost in the storm. I've never heard of this.

I walked up beside him and looked at what he was staring at. In front of us was broken debris from a ship, covered in a layer of ice and snow.

It's old. Not a modern design.

I walked over to one side, where I could see a prominent white circle, with a circle in the middle that had six long protrusions coming from it. What's this?

He ran his hand over the design, tracing the outline of it. No idea. I've never seen it before.

Did someone just paint it on?

No, I don't think so. It's too centered, too perfectly done. This is assembly line kind of work, which means this was either a government ship or a corporation.

Maybe there's more scattered around.

Yea. Let's go follow the fear trail.

Wait, this isn't the source?

He shook his head solemnly. We walked on, the sense growing stronger, finding more and more pieces of debris, until we reached an especially large chunk of ship. Underneath were the ugly, dark brown, shriveled remains of a creature, its four fingers grasping at us, frozen in an eternal effort to escape.

Karabast…

What is that? I asked.

It's a Seyley. Long dead.

Where's the rest of it? The legs of the corpse were gone.

He looked around, found nothing, then crouched next to the missing limbs and examined them.

Look at this.

I crouched next to him and examined the leathery skin he was pointing at.

What about it?

Look at that. It's scar tissue. The leg wounds healed. It lost its legs while it was alive. And look here. That's stitching. There must be more of them.

I felt a little sick. So they were cannibals.

Maybe. Or they resorted to it out of desperation.

I was going to respond when I heard a ringing sound. I glanced at Darin to see if he heard it, but he gave no indication of hearing anything at all. I tried to ignore it, but my paranoia got the best of me.

Darin. I hear something.

He tilted his head for a few seconds, then glanced at me curiously. I hear nothing.

It's a constant ringing. It's there, I swear.

You're sure?

I nodded vigorously.

Then it's the crystal calling to you. I can't go with you anymore.

I felt my stomach do a flip. I'm going alone?

He nodded. I will stay here for when you return.

I wanted to argue, to make him come as well, but I knew it wouldn't work. I would go alone. I turned to leave when I heard Sadie.

I turned and thought Yea?

May the Force be with you.

* * *

The ringing that I followed led me to a large group of ramshackle houses made of debris that surrounded a weird structure. It was a village, I realized. They must be the survivors from the broken ship. As I walked in, a cold feeling of dread washed over me. They were arranged in the same way my old home on Mandalore was.

A few houses were standing, but most were collapsed. Dead Seyley littered the ground. I carefully stepped over them as I maneuvered my way throughout the place. When I got to the structure in the middle, I realized that it used to be a fire pit. Just like the fire pit in the middle of the village on Mandalore. When I walked closer to it, I nearly vomited. The Seyley near the pit were torn to pieces, limbs separated from torso, torso from head, and all of it in a disgusting pile near a stick. As I inspected the stick, I noticed that limbs and organs were frozen onto it from long ago. This was terrible. How could anybody do this?

I decided to leave the scene and went over to one of the houses that was standing. I peered inside, hoping to find the source of the ringing. Instead, I saw an effigy of bones, the skulls smiling at me in their twisted way. When I went to the next house, I found two shriveled bodies, locked in an eternal embrace. But the last house was where my heart broke. Inside I saw a shriveled corpse, but one that was much smaller than the others. It was a child, and in its hand I could see that it was clutching something. Whatever sick things that happened here, this child must have seen them, and died in the same agonizing way as the others did.

I didn't want to, but the ringing was coming from the child. I reached over and slowly pulled the paper out of the child's hand, and the ringing stopped. It was wrapped around something small and hard. Hands shaking, I unfurled the paper to find a note scribbled hastily on it, the ink blurred in some areas, the paper stained with droplets. It read 'I'm sorry baby. I'm sorry that I'll never see you grow up. I'm sorry that you'll have to live without a momma. I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry that you had to go through this. I wish you never had to see those horrible things. You're so beautiful, perfect, innocent. You don't deserve this. I'm sorry that I broke my promise. When you were born, I promised that I would protect you forever. I'm so sorry. I wanted the best for you, and I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you. Please promise me something. Promise that you won't become like them. Promise me that you will stay the perfect, beautiful baby girl I know. Never change. No matter how bad things get, please never lose that hopeful little girl. Never lose hope. Please. I love you forever, and I will always be with you. -Mom'. Tears were freely flowing down my cheeks as I shakily looked at the dark blue crystal that was wrapped in the paper.

* * *

Darin was standing at the debris like promised.

How'd it go? He asked.

I glumly held up the crystal for him to see.

Wow, he muttered. I've never seen one like that. It's beautiful.

Uh-huh. I thought as I shoved the crystal in my pocket with the note. It was beautiful, sure. It was cool, obviously. But it wasn't worth it. That whole village hit way too closely.

Glumly, I thought Come on. Let's go.

He looked at me, obviously aware that something really hit me hard, but decided against peppering me with questions. He grabbed his backpack, and we went to get out of the storm and signal the ship.


	22. Chapter 22

**-Darin-**

Slick, Tiny, Q, and Thorn were firing stun shots at me, and I was attempting to deflect them at specified targets around the training room. They were each positioned at various different angles, and I had given them the green light to move around and fire away however they pleased. I made sure they knew that if they could stun me, they'd be able to hold that over my head as long as I lived and I wouldn't do anything about it. They had seized the opportunity to get bragging rights and were shooting away with reckless abandon.

My blades moved with blazing speed, deflecting all the shots that came my way, but the bolts didn't hit the targets as frequently as I would have liked. If I focused on deflecting the shots specifically at targets, then my blade speed would decrease, leaving openings in my defenses which the clones would certainly hit, whether by accident or on purpose.

On the trip back to Ilum, I'd shown Sadie how to put her saber together, and on Coruscant I'd given her some high quality materials to build it with, and watched her put it together to make sure she didn't accidentally turn a piece or something, which could cause the whole thing to explode.

After that, I took her clothes shopping. Kind of. We went to the boutique, went to the ladies section, she met the saleslady, they picked out a ton of clothes, and I zoned out and mumbled "looks great" whenever it seemed like my opinion was needed. Then, before I permanently became brain-dead, we went to the check-out, I paid, and we left. By the time we left, the sun was down and it was extremely late. To be completely honest, I don't remember a single thing she actually bought. I hate clothes shopping.

When I woke up the next day, I scribbled a little note telling her to come down to the training room when she woke up, and went to the clone barracks. Slick, Tiny, Q, and Thorn were the first clones I saw, and now I'm here, deflecting stun bolts.

I heard the door open to the training room, but was too focused on keeping my blades moving around me to check who it was. I was in a more secluded corner because I knew that the bolts would be flying all over and I really didn't want someone to accidentally get hit. That always sucked.

I heard the footsteps approaching us, then Thorn yelled "HOLD!" The blaster fire stopped and I swatted aside the last of the bolts.

"Morning, Commander. You look nice today" he said. I sheathed my sabers, walked over to the wall, and opened a locker, where I chugged some water from a jug and wiped the sweat from my face with a towel. I realized that me shirt was stuck to me, completely soaked with sweat.

"Good morning guys. Thank you. How long has he forced you to be here?"

"Three hours or so."

"Straight?" she asked.

"Basically."

I had my arms against the wall and my head lowered as I caught my breath.

"Good morning Darin."

I shook my head in response without looking at her, focusing on my Force.

"Are they free to go?" she asked, motioning at the clones.

I nodded again. She waved at them, and I heard them walk out. Softly, she asked "You okay?"

"Yea. Yea" I said through deep breaths. Truthfully, I wasn't. Ever since Ilum, my Force has been growing stronger. I don't know if the large Force presence on Ilum reacted with whatever they injected in me, but it was expanding, evolving. The first signs appeared at the shopping mall. The Force augments my senses, making them stronger. But I noticed that I sensed so much more than before. I could clearly hear the clacking of keyboards three stores down amidst the loud traffic of Coruscant's roads. I could focus on any conversation in the store or on the street and hear it with crystal clarity. My other senses followed suit. It sounds great, but it was distracting. The vast amount of new information I was suddenly taking in gave me a terrible migraine. It took me a few hours to begin controlling it, limiting the information I was focusing on.

I woke up this morning at like 5am feeling well-rested, even though I only got like five hours of sleep. I decided to work on controlling it, and that always works best for me at the training room. I surprised myself with my new stamina and strength, and I could feel the energy returning much faster than it naturally should have. All of it was unnerving, and I was worried about how far it would go. What if it got to be too much and I couldn't control it?

When I finally looked up and saw Sadie, I had to do a double take. She was wearing black combat pants and a t-shirt. The clothing wasn't remarkable in any way, but just it being fitted and not hanging loosely around her frame made her look more clean, organized, and important. It was incredible how much difference clothes could make. It made me slightly self-conscious about my sweat-soaked clothes.

"You're staring" she said. "Is it bad?"

"No, no. Thorn was right, you look good."

She looked down and smiled. I walked over to a wall and grabbed two large wooden sticks. I flipped one to her, and she caught it easily.

"Time to start lightsaber training. We're going to use these first so you don't hurt yourself."

I walked over to a circle that was painted on the ground and motioned for her to stand opposite me.

"We're going to start with basic positions so you can get the general angles and placements. Mirror me." I lifted the blade and held it vertically to block a pretend shot at my shoulder, and she copied the position.

**-0000-**

Terrias's bolted upright in a panic. The vision. It kept coming back. When he felt his pulse begin to slow, he lied back down on the bed and went back to sleep, determined to see it again, to glean as much meaning from it as he could.

As he dozed off again, he saw the darkness shimmer and glimpses of the future began to appear, with no real cohesive order or explanation to them.

A village burnt to the ground, the villagers slaughtered for treachery.

Than Valum, lying broken at the bottom of a deep ravine, figures laughing from the top of the ravine as the life faded from his body.

Darth Grellan, half of his face shiny and metal.

Sylvia, begging for mercy, hands cut off, as a dark figure beat her to death.

A pair of Pau'an brothers with red sabers he did not recognize, standing over the lifeless bodies of countless clones.

Grand Master Sorsee, standing in a conference room, facing off against another Jedi.

Than Valum, locked in a duel with a Jedi.

Sylvia, standing over the dead bodies of a human, Mon Cala, and Kaminoan.

Naboo, it's lush forest consumed by flame.

A group of rebels taking down a Jedi facility in the middle of the city.

Clones firing on their fellow clones.

Than Valum, with a small Mirialan girl holding his hand.

A Mandalorian, laying waste to an Alliance stronghold with the help of a company of clones.

A dead Jedi, scruffy beard covered in blood and part of his ear gone.

Than Valum, speaking to a large group of Seyley, Burhaj, and Maleko, bloodlust evident in all their eyes, as they set fire to an Alliance flag.

His throne room, except this time with Junel as his guards instead of Seyley.

The Seyley and Junel locked in a civil war.

Charybdis, on his knee, pledging that he will take care of the traitors.

Lysis, staring at a fountain in Naboo, his face expressionless as he pulls out a remote and pushes a button.

The _Ascension_, all of it's lifepods gone as it traveled directly into a star.

A Mandalorian, speaking with the Hutt's who ruled part of the galaxy.

Than Valum, fighting alongside a Jedi against Alliance forces led by Darth Grellan, whose face was not metallic.

A planet in Uncharted Space that was marked 'Quarantine! Extremely dangerous! Absolutely do not enter!'.

A young woman, riding some strange animal through a rocky path with a young man as they found some wreckage of the _Ascension_.

An academy, under attack by the Order, children gripped with fear as they were killed in cold blood.

Himself, standing in his throne room, lightsaber drawn, as he fired lightning at the lone, unarmed Jedi on the other side.

And finally, the voice, saying "I know what you've done. What you've built. I'm here to tear it apart, brick by brick."


	23. Chapter 23

**-Than-**

Upon returning to the _Ascension_, I was carried to the med bay by the Specs. When I came to, Ster and Stroh were standing by the bacta tank I was in. They said that I had a severe concussion and that the blade to the side cut much deeper than they thought and that I had lost a ton of blood. The good news was that most of the healing was done and that I would get to leave in a few hours, when everything would get better. However, they said that I would need to avoid doing anything physical for a few days and that as long as I took the pills they gave me, the concussion would heal perfectly.

After the med bay, I ate dinner in my chambers since loud noises hurt my head. Lysis dropped by and told me that Grellan may be coming soon. However, he still didn't know what he was doing or where he was. I found this altogether frustrating. He knew he might be coming, but had no idea what was going on? He had to be hiding information.

Later that night, I went to Lord Terrias's throne room to report on the mission, and was surprised to see a female in black robes that I didn't recognize standing next to him, laughing with the Sith Lord. I racked my brain for who she could possibly be and why at this time. A consort, perhaps? She wouldn't be the first.

As I approached the throne, Lord Terrias said "Than Valum. I trust your mission was a success?"

"Aye, m'lord." I kneeled before the Sith Lord. Normally, I had no need to kneel, but when Lord Terrias had guests, or company of any sort, I knew that the Sith Lord enjoyed flexing his power. I doubted she was nobility or had any clout, but since I had no idea who this woman was, I decided to play it safe.

"There's no need for that, Than, meet Sylvia."

I stood and faced the woman. Human, blonde hair, blue eyes, slim frame. Lord Terrias always did have a fine eye for his companions.

"Than, meet Sylvia, one of the students Darth Grellan has been training."

So that's why he's been gone.

"Sylvia, meet Than Valum, or the Vindicator. He is one of the greatest Seyley warriors in our ranks."

"Pleasure to meet you" I said with an outstretched hand.

She smiled sweetly and shook my hand. "Pleasure's all mine" she said, her voice matching her beautiful features.

"You will be working with her to track down Wort."

"With all due respect, I believe that I am more than capable of tracking him down without assistance."

"I am fully aware of your capabilities. However, Sylvia is extremely capable as well, and I believe her talents will be required."

I wanted to continue arguing, but I held my tongue, knowing that I would not get anywhere. Instead, I asked "What about Grellan? Lysis mentioned that he might be here soon."

"He is on Malachor, training the other pupils. He won't make it here for a long time. A few minor setbacks have occurred."

Sylvia looked at him, confused, and asked "Did the Swiftflight's kill Jinks?"

Lord Terrias hesitated, which told us that that was indeed what had happened.

"I told Jinks to cut it out. To stop making fun of them. He had it coming" she said.

"Than, dismissed" Lord Terrias said quickly. Clearly Sylvia had said more than Lord Terrias would have liked.

* * *

I spent the majority of the next few days sleeping. The drugs helped a ton with that. They knocked me right out. Slowly, I could feel my head throbbing less and the pain behind my eyes disappearing.

I looked at the gibberish written before me. It was an original copy of the Wort story, written in our Ancient tongue on parchment. Next to me, I had a handwritten translation manuel created by an old village scribe. I was sitting in the office in my chambers, decoding the story onto yet another piece of paper. This was incredibly tedious work, but I wanted to get the original versions, and to make my own conclusions.

I heard the door open, but didn't glance up from the paper.

"Good evening."

When I heard the melodious voice, I stopped writing and looked up. Leaning on the frame was the slender figure of Sylvia. She was wearing black robes again, but these were more slimming and had red thread woven into them, giving them the hint of red while staying primarily black.

"Evening" I said curtly, and went back to writing. After translating a few words, I said "I don't remember letting you in."

"That's how you're gonna treat your new partner?" she asked as she waltzed in and took a seat in the chair in front of my desk.

"These are my own chambers. PERSONAL chambers" I said, disliking the way she said 'partner'.

"Oh, boo hoo."

I wrote a few more words, then asked "Why are you here?"

"I figured we should get to know each other. I mean, we are going to be spending a lot of time together."

"I prefer not to do that sort of stuff. Most partners I work with tend to die. Makes everything easier" I said without looking up at her.

"What if I promise that I won't die?"

I smiled quickly, but didn't look up.

"Why are the lights so dim?"

"Concussion. Still a little sensitive to light. And noise." I hoped that she would get the hint and leave me alone.

"Was that from the mission you reported to Terry when we met?"

"Terry?" I asked, shocked that she would refer to him as 'Terry' and not a more respectful name.

She shrugged. "I call him Terry. Not to his face, but he's Terry. So was it?"

"Yes."

She sat there, clearly waiting for me to say more. I was battling the urge to spill the details. When I didn't she said "Man of few words, huh?"

"I'm busy."

"With what?"

"Research about Wort."

Suddenly, the pencil I was using flew out of my hand, along with the translation book, the parchment the story was written on, and the paper I was translating on, and moved to the far corner of my desk. I glared at her angrily.

"We have plenty of time to do that later. I want to get to know you. To trust you."

I felt the anger disappear, almost unnaturally. I said "What exactly do you have in mind?"

"Oh, I don't know. How about a drink?"

"I can't."

"You can't you can't or you can't you won't?"

"I can't I can't. The concussion medicine specifically says no." Truthfully, that may have been the most painful part of the concussion. Reading on the pill bottle that I couldn't drink anything for a week.

"Alright fine. Do you have anything here to drink?"

"Yep."

She waited for me to elaborate, or ask her if she wanted anything, but I refused to do that. I don't care how pretty you are, you aren't barging into my room, interrupting my work, and then ordering a drink. Finally, she asked "May I have some?"

I wanted so badly to tell her yes, she could have a drink at my place, but I pulled myself from the temptation and said "I can show you where a bar is."

Clearly shocked at my denial, she let out an eloquent "Uhm…"

"Here, let me show you." I stood up from behind the desk and led her to the door. When she stepped outside I said "Down the hall, make a right, make a left, then another right, and you're there."

Before I closed the door, she said "Wait!", and I thought I could see a hint of desperation in her eyes. She then pressed her hand gently on my chest where the circular scar was barely visible and asked "What's this from?"

I winced slightly at the touch, even though it didn't hurt me. It was more the memory that brought the pain. For some reason, I felt compelled to tell her. Quietly, I said "My brother was a traitor. For his crimes, my family died. All but me."

"I'm so sorry" she said softly. I became very conscious of her other hand, which was also softly pressing against my chest. I realized how closely we were standing, and that the hallway was empty. She was staring into my eyes, and I felt the overwhelming urge to kiss her. Slowly, I moved towards hers, and she did the same. When were were centimeters apart, I said quietly "You wanted trust?"

"Yea."

"Then stop trying to mess with my head" I said as I pulled away and slammed the door in her face.


	24. Chapter 24

**-0000-**

Grand Master Sorsee was staring at a security picture from the Ilum transport. He could clearly make out Darin and his new padawan. He was sitting on a crate and meditating while she was sleeping on the bench. As he studied her face, a few things irked at him.

Firstly, he did not recognize her. Granted, he did not know the face of every Jedi, for there were too many and he was far too busy to get to know them all, but he had never seen her in or around Coruscant. Maybe there was some explanation for it.

But what bugged him more was her. She wasn't unattractive. No matter how much each swore that they would adhere to the highest Jedi standards, he still would have never allowed her to be taken under his wing. And she was around Darin's age. Again, too much temptation, but it also begged the question of why she wasn't already a full-fledged Jedi, or at the very least a more senior padawan. It was like she came out of nowhere.

He thought of questioning her, but tossed it aside. He could come up with multiple times that a situation like this never violated the Jedi Code of Conduct, and perhaps this was indeed the case. But those times were rare, and had happened a long time ago. Too many times they played out exactly as he feared, and rules were set in place to mitigate it. The fact that he was even staring at a situation like this again after so long meant it had been an oversight or even a complete disregard by the assigner, and that had to be dealt with. Rules and regulations were put in place for a reason, and he couldn't let people ignore them.

He looked at Darin's motionless face, and felt the conflict rise in him again. Darin had disregarded an order. Every fiber in his body made him want to punish him so much worse for it than just a month-long grounding, but he knew that that wouldn't have gone over well with the Senate. The Senate loved heroes, and while he was the Head, they could still overrule him.

He hated the Senate. It was powerful, it was democratic, but it was cumbersome, slow, and easily corruptible. Most of the time they just got in the way. Slowly, he'd been able to collect a variety of control and emergency powers, but it was a slow and tedious process.

He tapped his finger against his chin and stared at a knot in the wood of his desk, thinking of how he could take over the Jedi assignment process.

**-Than-**

I shuddered as I felt the last concussion pill slide down my throat. I threw the bottle away and gave a little prayer of thanks. I hated pills. Absolutely hated them. Just the idea made me want to gag.

I walked to my office and grabbed a seat at the desk. I reached over and grabbed the stuff I was working on last night from the corner of my desk, where Sylvia had placed it and began working.

Sylvia. Last night was an incredible test of mental fortitude for me. She wanted to get in my head, to poke around and see my memories, thoughts, beliefs, etc. That much was clear. I knew what it felt like when somebody was using the Force to influence me, and she most certainly was doing just that. But what I couldn't put a pin on was why.

I had a few ideas. The first was that Lord Terrias ordered her to do it. Maybe it was a test for me, a test for her, or maybe a way to show me that the partner he had assigned was capable and powerful.

Then I thought that maybe she was trying to get in my head to know who I was with the goal of finding my weaknesses and exploiting them to get power over me. She was a Force-wielder, and they were known for using any means necessary to gain power.

The last thought I had was that her whole little charade of being attracted to me wasn't a charade at all. I hoped that this was the reason, though realistically it was the least likely. It's been so long since I've stood so close to a woman that I all but forgot what it felt like. The temptation to feel it again, to remember, almost overtook me.

No matter what the purpose was, she had certainly showed that she was powerful, at least with the art of mental manipulation. Not even Grellan had been able to nudge emotions, tailor perceptions, or influence thoughts so well. She was incredibly gifted in that regard. She also knew that she was attractive and didn't hesitate utilizing it to accomplish her goals.

I smiled to myself. Even with all that, she couldn't fool me. Mental manipulation was a finicky art that can only mimic, and a copy is never perfect. The influence never feels completely natural. She was very close, but I was able to tell when things didn't seem quite right, and the look on her face when I called her on it was priceless. I wasn't the Vindicator for nothing.

I finished translating the story and began to read it in full, curious and slightly scared about what I would find. As I read, my eyes widened with shock. All my life, I'd been told stories of the Seyley, their fables and such. They had been practically spoon-fed to me, and never once did I question their authenticity. Then this comes along, carrying with it the importance of being the original and the ancestor of one of the most well known Seyley legends, and I realize that every story I'd been told as a child was a lie, a censored version of the original that lost its original theme and meaning. Gayne was right.

I could understand if the story was censored. This version was brutal, gory, and would give any child nightmares. But the censored version was so different. Personally, I had no problem with this. I never held the stories as anything more than that. Stories. But if word of this kind of change got out, the radical traditionalist Seyley would absolutely lose it. They would denounce the Alliance, and there'd be a Seyley civil war.

But that didn't answer the question of why someone would claim that he was Wort and why it would be so accepted by everybody. That was sure to incite mass panic, which it did. I stood and went to the central data hub in search of some answers.

* * *

The central data hub was blue. I have no clue why, but it was the only room in the whole ship that had walls of a light sky blue. Maybe it's the metal, maybe its the lights, maybe it actually has a purpose, maybe the person who designed this ship decided to make this room stand out. Whatever the reason, it was blue.

Inside was a large computer terminal that was underneath a large window that covered the far side of the room and overlooked a vast sea of large boxes with countless blinking lights. That was where the information was. I think. I lost interest when it was being described to me. It was either that or it allowed for the information to be obtained from somewhere else. I didn't care too much as long as it worked.

The portly guy who ran the room stood when he saw me enter, and gave a little bow, careful not to let his belly tip him over.

"Vindicator. How may I help you?"

"I need to access the helmet cams from Noreno."

"Ah yes. Which part?"

"The end of the ground campaign."

"Those require Level 2 clearance."

"I'm a personal aide to the Sith Lord."

"Of course." He pulled out a holoscreen and handed it to me. "Please fill this out."

Technically, I had the clearance right below Lord Terrias, which required I sign my reasoning for accessing any information at Level 2, had me check a box that I read Terms and Conditions, sign that I knew that disclosing the information would have me dragged through the grand hall by my entrails, the usual fun stuff. For reasoning, I put 'analysis of prey'. Technically, I was going to do this anyways, so I wasn't lying. I usually did this when I could. Even so, my heart beat like a jackhammer as he pressed some buttons and found the recording for me amidst the mountains of information.

When he found what I wanted, he left the room and closed the door, giving me privacy. I took the chair and sat in front of the screen. I had only one file available to me. Odd. Usually there was one for each Seyley. I selected it, and the video began. I was seeing the view of one of four Seyley, and I noticed with shock that the one directly in front of me was in blood red armor. He was the Captain. He was the one in charge of the forces. If there would only be one recording, it would certainly be the Captain's. Why was I seeing through the eyes of this… I quickly checked the name… this Burr? He was a relative nobody.

The head looked to the side, and I caught my first glimpse of the Jedi. He was cloaked in dark brown robes. His eyes were obscured by shadow, and the lower part of his face was covered by a neatly trimmed beard. He was holding two sabers, one an electric blue, and the other shorter, flat, and jet black. It was intimidating, but not anything indicative of being supernatural. The captain yelled "Sreav in Wort!" and the Burhaj and Seyley around me opened fire. The Jedi ducked behind metal containers, a grenade was thrown, I saw the Jedi go flying when it exploded, then another grenade was thrown, except this one was caught on a Burhaj pistol he had picked up and thrown back at me. It went off, and the camera went berserk. The Seyley had been caught in the blast and sent flying. I heard a roar of pain, and he looked down to see his leg twisted in an unnatural position from landing on the rocks funny. He stood, albeit not without a struggle, and pulled out his plasma rifle and opened fire on the Jedi, who was rushing them. He started deflecting the bolts, and I watched almost in slow motion as one of the bolts hit the Seyley in the head, destroying the helmet and ending the transmission.

Are you kidding me? This is it? The only thing I got from it was that the captain said "Sreav in Wort", which, while yes he is calling him Wort, is not stating that he is indeed the Wort. Instead, he was using it as a derogatory term, the slang use in our language. No Seyley would ever mistake what he said with him saying that he was the one and only Wort.

I opened the door and said "Hey. Are you sure this is it? It's incomplete."

"Yep. That's all we have. A bit strange, I agree, but ah well. Must be the Wort" he said with a jokey smile. I reciprocated the smile, thinking of the irony of his statement. I thanked him and left.

That left me with more questions than answers. I decided to scour the registries for this Burr Burr fellow in hopes of getting more answers.

* * *

Problems arose as soon as I started. I found him quite easily when looking through the Seyley registries. Burr is an incredibly uncommon name among Seyley, and he was the only one who was labeled as being on Noreno. No, finding him was easy. The biggest problem came from the big red stamp across his file that said **Deceased**. I tried to open the incident report, to maybe understand how he died, but it was locked completely from view. The only people who could do that were the Sith Lord and his aides. Feeling a chill, I searched all the Seyley who were labeled as working with him on Noreno. All were labeled as deceased, and all were locked in the same manner. I went back to Burr's file and looked at his mission report. I noticed that underneath Noreno, there was another that started almost immediately afterwards, and that's how he died. But, that can't be. He was badly wounded, and had no access to bacta. He wouldn't be in fighting shape at all. His leg alone would take a few consecutive days in bacta to heal properly. I looked through the other's mission reports, and they almost all said the same thing. The only one that didn't was one that actually died on Noreno.

I leaned back in my chair, head spinning. I started this search out of curiosity to see if Gayne was right, which he was. But it also opened more questions, and I had hit a dead end. If that wasn't bad enough, I realized that there was a chance that none of the people I used to trust are actually trustworthy. The only people who could lock the file are Charybdis, Lord Terrias, Lysis, Grellan, and myself. I can't see Charybdis doing something with this amount of finesse and with no loose strings hanging anywhere, and Grellan was out, which left Lord Terrias and Lysis. I didn't like either of those options. Lord Terrias could end me at any second, and Lysis was my friend. But it HAD to be one of them. Nobody else could lock a file from me. For reasons unknown, they had locked the incident reports, mission files, and everything except the basics. They were hiding something. They had to be.

I started out deciphering a children's story, and now I was paranoid. What a day. I left to find the bar. I don't care what it does with the medicine, I need to try and internalize the magnitude of my findings, and I always do that better after a shot or two.


	25. Chapter 25

**-Than-**

The Creaky Caboose was the best bar and grill on the _Ascension_. Hands down, the absolute best. The place was owned and run by a squeaky, energetic little man named Phil, who more often than not could be found working the bar, serving drinks, and chatting with his customers. He had a fantastic memory for faces, and could remember most anything you said to him. He was also a huge sports fan, and you could see this in how he designed the location. The plain black walls that matched the rest of the ship were adorned with vintage jerseys, news headlines of great athletic moments, autographed balls, and tons more. It was a collectors dream.

Above the memorabilia were countless holovisions, each playing a different sport, and each able to be switched to a different channel upon request, but only if it was another sport. It had to be a sport. If you asked, he would switch, whether it's Fathier racing or futbol. And if there was a big playoff game going on, you could bet he would have half the holovisions turned to that game.

When I opened the doors to the Creak, I was hit with the sound of raucous laughter and the smell of fried food. Most of the tables in the dining section were packed with groups of families or friends. I could see Seyley, Humans, Junel, Burhaj, Kiar, and many more species sitting at the tables while waitresses scurried about taking orders, getting drinks, and serving meals.

I skirted around the edge of the dining section to get to the bar in the back of the place and took the open seat closest to me. Behind the bar was a large collection of different alcohols from around the universe and naturally, more holovisions. The one closest to me was turned to a playoff game of grav-ball. I watched lazily as the Lancers kicked it through the raised goalposts from 20 meters away, putting them ahead of the Raiders by one point. The clock stopped as the teams switched sides, and it went to commercial break. On the other screens I could see a game of hoops, podracing, baseball, boxing, khokey, and even a professional dyeballing match.

An excited squeaky voice cried "Vindicator!", and I turned to see Phil rush my way. Phil's loud announcement of my title brought many stares my way, which I ignored as I nodded at the bartender and smiled. The person who was sitting next to me got up and moved farther down the bar to another open seat. Now both seats around me were unoccupied.

Phil watched the man move, then said "Been a while since you last stopped by. How've ya been?"

"Alright. How's business been?"

His face brightened as he excitedly said "Fantastic! Guess who Lord Terrias chose to cater for his meeting with the Senator of Exodeen?"

"That's incredible. Congratulations" I said with a grin, genuinely happy for him.

"Thanks! Now, enough about me, how's work been?"

I shrugged and said "Meh. Work is work."

"That's all you got, huh? Well, let's get some alcohol in you, loosen that tongue of yours. What can I do you for?"

"A shot of Shesharilian vodka."

"That bad, huh? Maybe I don't want to know." He grabbed a bottle from the back and a cup from under the bar, poured a shot, and slid it to me. "Cheers."

"Cheers." I downed the drink and ordered two more and a nerfburger with Ojomian onion rings. He quickly sent the order to the kitchen, took out two more shot glasses, filled them, then refilled the one I just finished and quietly said "It's on the house." Someone called his name, and he was off chatting with someone else and I was alone in my little bubble of isolation. I chugged each shot and waited for the burger to arrive. I started to feel that familiar buzz as the drink hit my stomach and was absorbed into my bloodstream.

I heard someone sit next to me, and I heard Phil exclaim "Ster! What can I get for you?"

"Correllian rum."

"Coming right up. You want anything else, Vindicator?"

I stared at the shot glasses, debating on whether to get more or not, but decided against it. "I'll have what he's having" I said, motioning at Ster. Phil nodded and disappeared in the back, quickly returning with the easily distinguishable bottle of high quality Correllian rum. He grabbed two glasses from below the bar and placed them on the bar.

"I ran out, so I grabbed a new bottle for y'all. This ones at a higher proof. Y'all want ice or a splash of water?"

"Ice" we both said simultaneously. He nodded and quickly got the drinks together before sliding them our way.

After a few sips, I noticed Ster glance over at the collection of shot glasses. "Rough day?"

"That's one way to put it" I said glumly. "You?"

He swirled his glass around and watched the ice spin around. "I was at a funeral all day for my men that died on Lothal" he said, almost as if in a trance.

I nodded and said "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." He took a swig of the rum and stared at the nicely finished wood countertop. Phil came by and dropped off a plate of food in front of me, then darted off to handle more customers. Happy hour was starting, and the place was filling up fast. I slid the side of the plate with the onion rings to Ster, who looked at me curiously before grabbing one.

"They were enamored by you, you know" he said, and it was my turn to glance curiously at him. "You wouldn't believe their excitement when word got to us that we were working with the Vindicator. As children, they heard stories of the great deeds of past Vindicators. Legends. Kids will take paper, or cardboard, and try to make the armor you wear. They'll paint it dark gray, try to draw those little designs, you know? Trying to mimic the minimalist beauty of your armor. Pretending to be the hero. Then there are the movies, showing the great heroic deeds of a legend, fighting bad guys, saving damsels in distress, and always winning in the end. They grow up hearing these amazing things, but then to see a real life Vindicator..." His voice got noticeably softer. "At least they died living a dream."

"It was an honor working with them."

"They would have loved hearing that. You know Stroh wanted to get your autograph?"

"Why didn't he ask? I would have gladly given it."

He sighed. "I made him hold his tongue. He's a Burhaj, you know, and the stories are told almost exclusively by the Seyley. And you know how the dynamic usually goes between the two. I was afraid you'd think he was being insulting or something." He finished the rum and called Phil for another.

I understood what he was talking about. Burhaj were at the very bottom of the social hierarchy, with all other races treating them as second-rate citizens. They were stereotyped as being unintelligent and cowardly, and they were treated as such. I learned long ago that this was the result of a racial bias and had nothing to do with their abilities. The unfortunate irony was that their introduction into the Alliance was the very thing that kept their species from extinction, allowing for them to have a stable food source and to escape the dramatic toll that the winters on their home planet had.

"I don't see them as inferior, you know."

Ster looked at me, surprised.

"Yea. I've worked with plenty who have impressed me. I also know that Lord Terrias isn't too fond of them."

"Figures. If he doesn't like them, nobody else will."

"You do."

He sighed. "I care about all who I command. Seyley, Burhaj, hell, I'd even care about a Junel. I don't get all the fancy stuff the other elite forces do. I actually get less than even some basic militias. So I try to make up for it. Every life is precious. I spend time with them, train with them, laugh with them, grow with them. I see them not just as soldiers, but as family. And I hold their lives in my hands, more or less. They die, it's on me. Sometimes I wonder if it's even worth caring."

"It is. Compassion, concern, empathy, they're the most powerful thing you have. You care, so when they're injured, you become a better warrior in order to protect them. I saw it on Lothal with Stroh. Because you care, you force them to become better soldiers so they won't get hurt. And when you care for your team, they care for you. One person goes down, everyone gets into this supersoldier phase. When they see that, they feel more confident, which makes them better. And as you get to know them, you can communicate without even speaking because you know each other's movements. It's what makes you a good commander who's won countless battles that he never should have. And the ones you lost were a hell of a lot closer than they ever should have been. I read your file before working with you."

"You get all that from my file?"

I lifted the rum and smiled. "This helped a bit."

He laughed. "You know, you aren't at all what I expected."

"What'd you expect? A cold, unfeeling monster?"

"Honestly, yeah. Your file, which by the way is a pain in the ass to access, is basically a massive list of battles, kills, and accomplishments, most of them alone. You have a hyper lethal rating. You're basically a killing machine. We saw you fighting Gayne as we approached in that freighter. He rammed into you, stabbed you, kicked you to the ground, and was about to kill you before you could react. But he couldn't finish the job. He had the element of surprise, you were bleeding out, and you had a massive concussion, and it still wasn't enough."

"I've never had somebody throw their helmet to mess with the tracker. That was a first."

"Yea, that's not something I ever would have thought of either. It's ingenious."

A loud cheer went up from a few people at the bar, and I looked up to see that the Raiders, who had managed to fall behind even farther, just scored, then turned the ball over, and scored again, tying the game.

The next few hours flew by before we knew it. Ster and I moved away from missions, work, Lothal, and all of that stuff and on to less serious things. I learned that he shared my love of classical rock music and certain styles of rap, that we both enjoyed reading legal thrillers, and that we both loved ships made by MandalMotors.

"Woah. Check her out" I heard him mutter. I looked over to see that he was staring at the entrance. I looked over and spotted Sylvia, wearing faded blue denim jeans and a red shirt.

"Don't bother. It's the alcohol" I said unconvincingly. With great effort, I tore my eyes from her and stared at the holovision above the bar. I heard the chair to my right move, and she sat down. Great. I was not in the mood for this.

"Mandalorian ale, please" she said to Phil.

I leaned over to Ster and quietly whispered "Quit staring."

This seemed to bring him back to reality, and he peeled his eyes away from her. We were watching the game when to my horror, Phil came to us after giving her her drink and asked us if we wanted anything, and she glanced over at us. I almost winced as I said "not right now", sure that any doubt she had would immediately dissipate. I tried to ignore her as Phil walked away.

"Didn't expect to see you here" I heard her say. Dammit. Now I couldn't ignore her.

"I'm not in the mood" I said, well aware of Ster's shocked expression as he realized that we knew each other.

"Hold on. You two were…" Ster waved his hand. The end of the sentence was rather clear.

"No" I said sternly, and at the same time she said "Almost."

"How do you two know each other?"

"Terry made us partners" she chirped, and Ster's eyes widened.

"Lord Terrias is making us work together on a case" I clarified. The last onion ring floated off my plate to her and she ate it.

"Really?"

She just stuck her nose out and said "Sue me."

"So why don't you like her?" Ster asked.

She said "He does."

I said "She was using the Force to mess with my mind. False emotions, false thoughts, you know."

"That's not true. They were already there. I just made them stand out more, become a lot more powerful."

"It's still false."

"It's an exaggeration."

"Which is false!"

She looked at Ster. "You. Than's friend. Is there a difference between falsification and exaggeration?"

"Well, kinda."

"Great. You're no help."

She took the bottle of Mandalorian ale and drank the whole thing in one go as we watched in awe.

"Horrible day, huh?" I asked.

"The worst."

"Welcome to the club."


	26. Chapter 26

**-Darin-**

I walked into Grand Master Sorsee's office again. I was getting really tired of this.

Grand Master Sorsee was seated, a solemn expression on his face.

"Please, sit" he said.

I sat, trying to anticipate what was going on. He looked at his hands awkwardly and said "I don't know if you know this, but Grand Masters Margos, Flick, and Tun were deployed on a diplomatic mission to Ryloth. On the ride there, they were ambushed by an Alliance vessel. All three of them died." He looked at me, hoping to get a reaction from me.

"That's horrible" I said, refusing to break my emotionless facade. Truthfully, I wasn't sure what the point of this meeting was. Sure, I knew them, but I wasn't close to any of them.

"Indeed it is. Due to the gravity of the situation and the immediate need for replacements, I was chosen to take over all of their previous roles."

Now the pieces were falling into place.

"The real reason that I called you here is to right a mistake by Grand Master Flick."

Oh, kriff.

"There are specific rules that are in place for specific reasons, and he completely disregarded them when he assigned your padawan to you. Your padawan has been reassigned-"

"NO!" I yelled, standing suddenly, discarding the facade completely. "YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

He was clearly surprised by the sudden outburst, but quickly regained his composure and said "You didn't let me finish. I understand that you took an oath, swore to protect and train her. And I understand that a friendship grows between master and apprentice. I also understand that she is familiar with you, has become comfortable around you, and a sudden separation could derail her progress. But rules must be followed. I have assigned her to become the apprentice of General Joren. He is your former master, has more experience, and is more than capable. It will also allow you to help work with her, and for her to become more comfortable. You will still see each other."

I was seething, but Sorsee seemed to put a lot of effort into trying to follow the rules and appease all sides. I asked "When will she transfer?"

"She's already been transferred. All of her belongings are on his ship, and she is as well. She knows what happened and didn't put up a fight at all. You trained her well."

I wanted to punch him, but I resisted the urge. "Thank you Grand Master" I said through gritted teeth before leaving the room.

* * *

Immediately after leaving, I dashed to my room. What he said couldn't be true. She wasn't gone. I woke up early today and went to Bebo's arena to work with the clones. They couldn't just clear all of her stuff in a few hours.

I unlocked the door and dashed inside. Instantly, I could tell something was wrong. I sprinted into the bedroom and found… nothing. I frantically searched the drawers, closet, even under the bed. Nothing. Nothing in the bathroom either. I scoured the entire place. Not a single trace of her was there. It was as if she had never lived here.

**-0000-**

Sylvia walked into Lord Terrias' throne room with a satisfied grin on her face.

"I have succeeded, my Lord" she exclaimed, relishing the sweet taste of victory.

Lord Terrias got up and opened the back door, holding it open for Sylvia as she went inside. He then led her to a room with a massive holoprojector in the middle. Darth Grellan was being displayed on the projector, and next to the hologram stood Lysis and Charybdis, his massive battle-axe leaning on the wall next to him. She took a seat by the holoprojector and kicked her feet up as Lord Terrias took a spot where everybody could see him.

"Alright everybody. I called you here earlier because Sylvia messaged me with news. Sylvia, if you please."

"I spent the night drinking with Than and some other Seyley. Never caught his name. He was piss drunk towards the end, and I was able to glean some information from his mind. I couldn't get much since he was rather suspicious and you trained him a little too well," she nodded at Darth Grellan before continuing, "but I did get that he was paranoid and was doubting you and you." When she said 'you' she pointed at Lysis and Lord Terrias, respectively. "He also thinks that the Alliance has fabricated something historically important and apparently is fully aware that he can potentially tear the Seyley apart by telling them."

The room was silent as the weight of her words hit them all.

"I… I can't believe it" said Grellan. "I never would have guessed…"

"It appears that your visions have come true" said Charybdis.

Terrias nodded. He had told these four about all the visions he had had that pertained to Than Valum. He neglected to mention the rest of them.

"Then our course of action is clear" Lysis said, and all eyes turned to him.

"How so?" asked Darth Grellan.

"The way I see it, the Junel and Seyley are very similar in what role they play in the Alliance, and this has caused plenty of skirmishes. And now, the Seyley are no longer safe. Who knows how many Than has told. They must be replaced by the Junel."

A ripple of unease spread through the room, and Charybdis asked "What of the Vindicator?"

"He has served well, and become a dear friend to Grellan and myself, but our emotions do not matter here. He must be eliminated."

"I can do that" growled Charybdis. "Save you two from being put in that kind of position."

"Sylvia will assist you" Lord Terrias said. Charybdis was going to argue, but Lord Terrias quickly said "I don't doubt you. You have done well. But I want this to be done quickly and cleanly. I want to be sure. Than Valum has proven himself to be quite capable of surviving the impossible."

"We cannot just kill him. There must be an explanation, a purpose. It must be done right. He is the Vindicator. He could easily become a martyr, a figurehead of rebellion."

"So what's the plan?" asked Charybdis.

"Treason. We kill him for treason. If he's found socializing with traitors, us killing him would be the expected outcome. But it must be done in a secluded village, a village that can be slaughtered for treachery without anybody batting an eye. One very few would know about, and even less would question. And it must be done before the exchange of power. The Seyley are very honour bound, and are a very tight knit group. If one is called a traitor, the family suffers. That's how they think. Now, if somebody like the Vindicator is a traitor, then by their logic it can be explained as understandable why they are getting demoted. The Vindicator is a hero for them, the title being the highest accolade one can get. He represents them. In this way, his fall will lead to minimal resistance from the Seyley as a whole."

"Minimal? As in there will still be some?" asked Darth Grellan.

"Yes. They are a very proud race. For some, a demotion will be disgraceful and insulting, and they would rather die than suffer that sort of injustice. But those individuals will be in the minority. Charybdis, is your mission completed?"

"Perfectly. All three Jedi tasted my axe."

"Wonderful. Lord Terrias, with your permission, I would like to put these events in motion as quickly as possible."

"Permission granted. We have one more issue to deal with. This Jedi that's riled up so many of the Seyley, this Wort, I want him eliminated. His very presence created the rumors from those Seyley on Noreno, and we were forced to eliminate them for attempting to destabilize the Alliance. As long as he is alive, we won't be able to trust fully in the Seyley. Now, an informant has provided me with a report on the Jedi. Notably, he is prone to creating attachments, and his padawan has been reassigned recently" said Lord Terrias.

"Perfect. So we use her to lure him to us" said Charybdis.

"Sylvia will handle it" Lord Terrias said. "She is the most qualified for the job, and excels at psychological manipulation."

"Sounds good. When is this going into action?" asked Grellan.

"Immediately."


	27. Chapter 27

**-Than-**

I woke up to the sharp beeping of my comm. My mouth felt like sandpaper and I had a splitting headache, which wasn't helped by the shrill beeping. I struggled to lift my head and took in my surroundings. I'd fallen asleep on the barstool. Phil was nowhere to be found, but a glass of water and pills were sitting on the counter. Ster was rousing from his alcohol induced slumber as well, and was none too happy about it.

"Wotdekriffisat" he mumbled.

I clumsily fumbled for the pills by me and tossed them in my mouth before draining the entire glass. I then shook Ster to try and wake him up.

"Idonwanna" he mumbled. I shook harder, and he finally lifted his head.

"Wefellasleep" I said, just now realizing how swollen my tongue was. "Yougottatakedese" I said reaching for the pills and handing them to him. He grabbed them and threw them in his mouth, then groped around until he found the glass of water.

"Answeryercommjackass" he muttered. I fumbled around until I found it and managed an "Ughh."

"Good morning Than. We leave for Mirial in two hours."

"Ugh."

"Charming. Make sure you're ready."

The call ended abruptly, and it took me a few minutes to process what was said.

"Whassgoinon?"

"IgottagotoMirial" I muttered before getting off the stool and promptly falling on my face. Ster burst into a fit of laughter before falling backwards off the chair, making him laugh even harder. His laughter was infectious, and I started laughing as well. We were quite a sight, two hungover guys laying on the floor and laughing hysterically.

* * *

Eventually, I made my way to my room, where I threw up in the toilet and took a long shower. I felt the medicine start to kick in while I was in the shower. By the time I was done, most of the symptoms of last nights drinking binge had disappeared. I got in my armor and made my way to one of the hangar bays. Inside was the usual hustle and bustle of ships coming and going and tech crews making last minute repairs. My eyes were immediately drawn to Sylvia, who was standing by a sleek royal starship and impatiently tapping her foot. When she saw me, she marched over to me, staring daggers at me the whole time.

"Hey."

"What took you so long?!"

"I had a hangover. How are you not feeling it?"

"I can cleanse it from my system. Get your ass on the ship. We need to go."

As I followed her to the ship, I asked "Why are we going to Mirial?"

"Information on the Jedi we're hunting."

I thought it was strange that information would be on Mirial, but you never know.

We landed towards the northern part of the planet, by an isolated village surrounded by rock and ice. I walked out and found Charybdis and about 15 Junel waiting outside the ramp. Sylvia followed behind me. I glanced at the village and noted that the villagers were glancing warily at us. "How do they have information? They don't look like they've had contact with anybody for ages."

Sylvia walked to Charybdis's side and said "They haven't."

I noticed that the Junel were slowly circling around me, and instinctively backed up. I realized what was happening and said "This is treason."

I attacked the Junel nearest me, but never made contact. An invisible barrier separated me from them. The Junel I tried to strike swung his hammer in an attempt to obliterate me. I dodged, then a hammer crushed into my back, dropping me to the ground. Then another, and another. I felt my bones shatter with each blow. Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Shakily, I lifted myself up so I was on my hands and knees.

"Your grit is impressive" said Charybdis.

"When Lord Terrias hears of this, he will tear you apart."

Charybdis laughed menacingly, grabbed a hammer, and stepped towards me "Fool. He ordered me to do it." With that, he hit my broken body off the cliff, sending me plummeting to the rocks two hundred meters below.

**-0000-**

Charybdis barked at the Junel to go down and make sure he was dead, but Sylvia stopped him.

"Leave him. He's dead. Finish the mission here."

He handed the hammer to the other Junel and smiled broadly.

"With pleasure." He turned and barked "Raze the village! Leave no survivors!" while Sylvia got back in the ship and left to finish her end of the mission.


	28. Chapter 28

**-Sadie-**

Fral leaned in the room and asked "You want anything?"

I bit my tongue and shook my head no. He nodded and left me on my own in the room.

It was a nice room, one he gave to me on his new capital ship, the _Everbright_. It was designed like a Star Destroyer, but was a bit smaller. However, it actually had more guns on it than the regular Star Destroyer, not to mention a larger variety. It also had two entrances and exits to its massive hangar bay for ships, one above and one below. It was perfectly capable of operating without a supporting fleet, but had one anyways.

I learned all of this while Fral was introducing the ship to me on my first day of officially being his padawan, while all of my stuff was being moved. After the tour, I hid in the room.

The tour was two days ago. I haven't left once.

While I was eating cereal on Coruscant, I'd heard a knock. When I answered it, I was told by some smug douche that I wasn't Darin's padawan anymore and that I was being transferred. I laughed in his face at first, and when he produced the documents as evidence, I resisted. He said that if I didn't comply then he would have to force me to leave. I told him where he could stick his documents. When he tried to push past me, I pulled out my lightsaber. That was the last thing I remember before waking up on this godforsaken ship. Fral told me that they had put me to sleep. I nearly cut the rest of his ear off in anger.

It wasn't fair. They couldn't just uproot me and drop me off somewhere else. How could they just expect me to be okay with this?

I heard a knock on the door, then Fral walked inside. I glared at him in hopes that he would just go away. Instead, he walked over and sat on a chair by the desk.

"Catherine's worried about you."

Catherine Cress was the Admiral of the _Everbright_. She was fresh out of the Academy, graduating top of her class, but had no prior experience operating a ship. That didn't stop Fral from selecting her to be the Admiral of his new ship. She was a lighthearted, fun, and very friendly person, although I think that may have more to do with me being the only other human female her age on the ship.

"Tell her I'm fine" I replied.

"We've received a distress signal from Maani Kodd on Ryloth, and are going there now to investigate."

"Whatever."

He sighed. "I know that this is very difficu-"

"NO YOU DON'T!" I screamed. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE! HE WAS MY FRIEND! AND HE WAS A DAMN GOOD TEACHER!" I lowered my shaking voice and said "It's not fair."

"When I heard that Grand Master Sorsee took over assignment, I kind of expected you to be reassigned."

I glanced at him suspiciously before asking "Why?"

"Grand Master Sorsee never liked Darin. He's always been a stickler for rules and unquestioning authority, and well, you know Darin. That and his very entry into the Order falls into a gray area."

I raised my eyebrow, and he continued. "I found Darin at an orphanage on Coruscant when he was seven years old, and he was a bit of tyrant. I was there to get a Force-using toddler when I witnessed a fight break out. Some new kids decided to make fun of Darin. This sent him over the edge, and I saw him take on the entire gang of bullies and win. The security guard had a rough time getting him down. I had to lift him up and separate him from the group. I decided to test him, since I had a gut feeling, and it turned out that he was Force-sensitive. I brought him in front of the Council, and Grand Master Sorsee had an issue with him being too old, forming attachments with parents he never even met, and his real lack of emotional restraint. They voted, and Darin got in by one vote. Ever since then, Darin has remained in the gray area. He's a thinker. He questions things, and that irks Grand Master Sorsee. He feigns friendliness, but deep down he despises Darin."

I never knew Darin was an orphan. I never knew any of this stuff. Why did he hide this from me?

"So what do you think about this?"

He shifted uncomfortably in the seat before saying "I am biased, but I think its a horrible move. I watched Darin grow and spent countless hours with him. He's like a son to me. I've seen him struggle through his natural weakness, the sideways stares, the muttering. I've seen him deal with more than any Jedi, nay, any person ever should. He works relentlessly to become the best, and is one of the most tenacious people I've ever met. When he told me that he was the first person to survive that experiment thing, I wasn't surprised."

I nodded. Fral was a nice guy, but he wasn't Darin. He seemed to be an in-between person, one who adhered strictly to the Jedi but who allowed for deviation to some degree.

"Will you please come out now?" he asked, very gently, like a grandfather.

The anger was still present, but I decided to follow him. I was getting hungry anyways.

**-0000-**

Ster was loading the Specs up onto a ship when he heard the announcement over the intercom of the hangar bay.

"**The Vindicator has been caught partaking in treacherous acts that have undermined the Alliance. For his crimes against the Alliance, all Seyley have been downgraded to ordinary soldiers with a complete loss of their previous position related privileges, and the Junel shall be their replacements. The Seyley will be able to earn their titles back, but only after they have proven their allegiance to the Alliance. Please be civil during this exchange of power, as insubordination will be punished by a swift death."**

Right on cue, a large group of Junel walked into the hangar bay and went to replace the Seyley who ran the hangar. He started arguing, and Ster watched in horror as he was gunned down.

He sprinted onto the ship and yelled "MOVE! LEAVE NOW!"

The pilot turned on the engines and we shot out of the hangar.

"HYPERSPACE! NOW!"

They shot into the nearest hyperspace lane. Ster heard muttering coming from the Specs, confusion and worry clear on their faces.

The pilot asked "Where to?"

He couldn't remember what the mission was. It didn't matter anymore. He had a new goal. He wanted answers. He racked his brain for what the location was when it hit him.

"Mirial. We go to Mirial."


	29. Chapter 29

**-Darin-**

I woke with a start. It was the middle of the night, but the sounds of the city were as loud as always. I got off the couch and put my shirt on.

Sadie and Fral are in danger. I saw it through the Force. They were walking into a trap. Ryloth was a setup. I had to warn them. I dashed through the room, stuffing the things I felt I'd need into a bag. I walked past the fist-shaped holes in the walls, the overturned table, and tiptoed around the shattered bits of glass from the broken mirrors.

I was still grounded, but I didn't care. I was leaving, and nobody was going to stop me. I quickly called the clones, told them to get up and get on a hangar bay. We were leaving immediately.

* * *

I got to the hangar bay with my small bag of essential clothes and such to find all my clones looking like they wanted to murder me.

"Really boss? This early?" complained Thorn.

"Yes. Sadie and Fral are in danger."

Q stepped up and asked "Why'd you pack your things?"

I angrily threw my stuff down and said "I'm breaking orders. Again. And this time, my punishment will be much more severe when I return. I'm not coming back immediately. I'm going to stow away on Fral's ship for a while, then I'll lose y'all, get demoted, blah blah blah. I'm asking for a final mission. It'll break some rules, but I'm taking the fall anyways. Are you guys up for saving Fral and Sadie?"

Without hesitation, Tag said "I'm in."

Another clone said "Me too."

Then another. And another.

I nodded. "Thank you."

**-Sadie-**

I walked into the Jedi facility on Ryloth with Fral. He had left the clones back on the ship, which didn't bother me any. We walked into a spacious main hall with two curving stairs against the walls leading to a second floor. There were two large double doors on the first floor past the two massive staircases. And above the doors was the corpse of Maani Kodd, hanging from the second floor by its arms like a decoration.

"Kriff" I muttered.

I started walking forwards towards the double doors, but stopped when I noticed that Fral hadn't moved. He was standing there, staring at the dead body of his old friend.

"Fral. We've gotta go."

"Yea. Yea ok" he said, and started walking with me. We went through the double doors and entered a long fancy hallway. When we were about halfway through the hall, the door on the other side opened and a young woman with magnificent blonde hair, a stunning dress, and skin so perfect it almost glowed came to us.

"Well, I'm glad you could finally make it" she said with a dazzling smile. "I was starting to get worried."

I immediately became very self-conscious about my own appearance. This woman was the epitome of beauty, and I was a regular person. It made me feel like I was back at school, back in that unforgiving land of judgement and degradation. She was the cool popular girl, and I was the weird kid.. When she walked, heads turned. When I walked, heads also turned, but the other way.

Fral managed to pick his jaw up from the floor and said "Ma'am. You need to leave. It's not safe here. If you could promptly le..."

She leaned on the wall and batted her eyes at Fral, and he lost track of what he was saying. I couldn't blame him. I didn't shoot from that side, but she was really tempting me to switch.

In the back of my mind, a little alarm was going off. Something wasn't right. I was forgetting something. I tried to remember what it was, but all I wanted to do was just stare at the beautiful figure walking towards me.

No, no, bad Sadie. Bad. What am I forgetting? Why are we here? What were we doing before? I tried to remember what we were doing before when it hit me.

The body. How could I forget the body after such a short time? It was unnatural. This woman was messing with me.

I reached for my saber when she said "You figured it out. I'm impressed."

I felt my body go limp, and the world went black.

**-Darin-**

We shot out of hyperspace around the Ryloth system. The first thing I noticed was the new ship Fral was given. I begged that Sadie and Fral were still on the ship.

"Order Transport number B-7089, identify yourself and your purpose."

I grabbed the comm and frantically yelled "Are Sadie and Fral on the ship?"

Silence, then the female voice said "Lower your voice and identify yourself."

"Darin Kravhenn. Are Sadie and Fral on the ship?"

"Darin Kravhenn is not a name I'm familiar with. Who are you and why are you here."

Holy kriffing spawn of the Force, I don't have time for this.

"I'm Frals old padawan and I'm here because Ryloth is a trap. Is that enough for you to let me onto this horrid mudball?"

"Technically, no. You didn't follow protocol in any way."

"TO HELL WITH PROTOCOL! THEY'RE GOING TO DIE IF WE DON'T GET ON THIS PLANET!"

Tag walked into the cockpit and grabbed the mic from me.

"Apologies, Admiral. This is TR-7254, Captain of the 603rd, we are on Transport B-7089, on an ERO-6, M-13. We request information on whether Jedi Master Fral Joren and Jedi Padawan Sadie Wren are aboard your vessel, and if they are not, we request permission to land. Over."

A small pause, before the voice said "We didn't receive any notification that you were arriving."

"Yes, well this was one of dire importance. A Force vision came all of a sudden. You know how these things work." He sounded annoyed when he said that, and the Admiral on the other side clearly picked up on it.

"Understood. Master Joren and Padawan Wren left earlier today, and we haven't heard from them since. You are cleared to land."

"Thank you." He handed the mic back to me with a smug grin on his face.


	30. Chapter 30

**-Sadie-**

I woke up to find myself in a large circular room with a large crackling fireplace on one side and a few armchairs facing the fire, and large windows that reached from floor to ceiling on the other side. It was a cozy place that probably belonged to an important Order official who lived here. But there was no sign of them now. Instead, that beautiful lady was sitting there and calmly reading a book.

I was against a wall, my hands clasped together by a pair of cold metal cuffs and then connected to the wall. I felt the same kind of cuffs connecting my feet to the ground. I found that I could wriggle a bit, but I couldn't actually go anywhere. To my left I noticed the unconscious form of Fral, in the same predicament I was in.

"Oh, goodie. You're up" said the woman, before throwing the book in the fire and watching it burn. "I was just reading some of your precious Jedi teachings. Rather dull, if you ask me."

I pulled against the restraints as hard as I could, but to no avail.

"It's no use, honey. But please do keep trying. I love it when they squirm."

I spit at her, but stopped squirming.

I heard Fral groan. The lady clapped her hands and exclaimed "Finally! Now we can begin!" Excitedly, she walked over so that she was standing between us and about two meters in front of us. She bowed, then said "My name is Sylvia, and I'm super excited that you two are here!"

She reached her left hand out, and a coin flew into her hand. When she caught it, I barely caught a glimpse of a tattoo, right under her wrist, that made my blood run cold. There, stenciled in thin black characters, was E-1579.

She held up the coin and said "You guys are bait. I only need one of you. So, we'll flip a coin to see who gets to be the bait." She pointed at Fral and said "You are heads." She then pointed at me and giggled "And you are the tail."

"Wow. You're so clever" I said with so much sarcasm it surprised me.

She ignored me and flipped the coin. I watched as it spun through the air, the light flashing on it's rotating sides, before falling to the ground, bouncing around, and finally settling on a face that I couldn't make out. She leaned down and picked up the coin, then a glowing red blade appeared in her hand. In the blink of an eye, she dashed at Fral Joren, the blade slicing vertically through his body and cutting him in two. She stepped back and closed her eyes, a sadistic smile appearing on her face as she shuddered in a moment of ecstasy.

I stared horrified at the gutted body of Fral Joren, and then at the euphoric monster who just ended his life.

She sauntered over to me, sheathing the saber, and caressed my cheek gently. I recoiled at her touch and tried to get away from it. Not to be stopped, she took my face in her hands. In a seductive tone, she whispered "I'm glad I get to play with you" before pressing her lips against mine. My eyes widened in shock, and I tried to twist my head away, but she held it still. I leaned my head back slightly and slammed it forward as hard as I could against hers. She let go and stumbled backwards, stunned, before smiling and reaching her hand out. I gasped for air as she squeezed my windpipe shut.

"You're feisty. I'm gonna have so much fun with you."

I tried to respond, but all that came out was a choking sound.

After two eternally long minutes, she released me, and I drew in large gulps of air, terrified that she would take this simple pleasure away from me. My vision was swimming as she walked towards me and took my chin, lifting my head so I was eye level with her.

"Let's see what makes you tick."

She hit my mental Force shield with a more powerful attack than any I've ever felt, and I screamed in pain. As I tried to rebuild it, she laughed and broke it down again. She then dove into my mind, and my surroundings disappeared.

Suddenly, I was on Mandalore. I was standing inside of my old home. In front of me was my mom, dad, my grandpa, and a little girl I knew to be me. I reached out to touch them, but my hand just shimmered through them.

"Don't try, hun. They can't see us."

I turned to see that witch standing behind me, smiling gleefully.

I turned back to the scene in front of me, and before I realized it, tears welled up in my eyes. Mom and dads voices, the smell of home, everything. Just thinking about them brought a painful wave of emotions. Actually seeing them… it was more like a tsunami.

I heard a knocking at the door, and I saw mom and dad exchange fearful glances.

"Take Sadie. Go" my dad ordered.

"I'm not leaving you" mom said.

"She needs a mother."

"And a father" she countered, refusing to give even a little.

They both tried to stare each other down, then seemed to reach an agreement and looked at grandpa.

"Take her. Keep her safe."

Grandpa wanted to argue, but then a lightsaber started cutting down the door, and he nodded.

"Come on Sadie. Let's go get some ice cream."

"What about mommy and daddy?"

"They'll be right along. Come now."

"But I haven't finished dinner yet."

The door fell with a thud and he said "Now!"

I stood, and the memory dissipated.

As I wiped tears away, I heard laughing behind me.

"They died because of YOU!" she cried.

I lunged at her, but went right through her like she wasn't even there, and she laughed harder.

"Another, another!"

Suddenly, we were in the crowded halls of my old school, and Sylvia, began laughing even harder.

"What are you WEARING?"

My face reddened as I watched 13 year old me walk through the halls with used mens clothes that were much too big for me. I was being jostled as I walked towards my locker, and when I opened it, I was drenched by a bucket of water that someone had placed inside it. Everyone was laughing at me. Sylvia found this utterly hilarious. I watched younger me struggle to hold the tears back and run to the girls bathroom, where I sat against the wall and cried.

"You're pathetic."

I tried to ignore her, and another memory appeared. This time, I was 16, and walking through school again. The clothes were still big, the hair was longer, and I looked dirtier. I was sitting alone at a lunch table and messing with some scrap when my then-crush, the captain of the school grav-ball team, came over and sat next to me.

"Hey."

I looked up, gave a small smile, and said "hey."

"Can I see that?" he asked before snatching the scrap out of my hands.

"What the hell!?"

He started tossing it with some friends while I grabbed for it, always just shy of catching it.

One of his friends grabbed my bookbag and dumped everything out of it, smiling goofily, and saying "oops".

"Stop it!" I cried, as I felt my face burning red at the attention from everybody.

His friend said "Where are your parents, freak? Did they abandon you?"

My then-crush said "Of course they did. Nobody wants a child like that."

This got everyone around us laughing. I felt my blood begin to boil. Angry, I yelled "Cut it out!"

"Or what? What are you gonna do? Huh?" He stepped up to me so that we were really close, trying to intimidate me. "You're a dirty refugee. Nobody ever cared about you, and nobody ever will."

In a snap, I punched him in the face harder than I'd ever punched anyone before. A perfect uppercut to the chin that snapped his head backwards and dropped him to the ground.

The memory snapped forwards to when I was sitting in the Dean's office.

"You gave him a massive concussion. You know he's our star grav-ball player, right? And he's out for the next few games. You realize your actions hurt the whole school, right?"

"HE WAS MAKING FUN OF ME! MOCKING ME IN FRONT OF THE SCHOOL!"

The dean sighed and said "You keep claiming that. But when I ask other witnesses, they say that he wasn't. They say you just think he's insulting you."

"Because he is!"

"Either way, you can't lash out at other students."

"I'm defending myself!"

"I'm not going to argue with you. If this happens again, I'm expelling you."

The memory changed again, this time to when I was 18 and in my last year at the school. Same old clothes, except this time I was even grungier than before, and I was clearly exhausted. I was in class when someone threw a book at me and hit me in the back of the head. I turned back and saw a group of girls snickering. I grabbed my textbook and threw it as hard as I could at them, hitting the tall blonde square in the face.

The memory changed and I was in the Dean's office, getting chewed out again before being officially expelled.

It switched again, this time to me walking into my home. Grandpa was sitting in a chair reading a book. He didn't even acknowledge my existence. I smelled something burning, and rushed to the kitchen to find something burning on the stove. I took it off and threw it in the sink before walking into the den.

"Umm… Grandpa?"

He looked up at me.

"Why didn't you take that thing off the stove?"

"What thing?"

"I don't know. It was a blackened mess. Why didn't you take it off?"

"I never put anything on the stove."

"You did. It was burning."

He sniffed the air before saying "I don't smell anything. What are you talking about?"

The memory changed, and this time it was me talking to Bebo the Hutt about working for him because nobody else would hire me.

Then it switched again. I was in the shooting gallery of the arena with a Deathtrooper when some guy in what appeared to be Mandalorian armor walked in and said "I was told that one of you was my partner."

I holstered my blasters and walked over, taking off my helmet and introducing myself.

Then it flashed to us fighting against the large fire slug, then the rathtars, then the wolf things, then the TAC.

Then it changed to him writhing on the ground in pain as electricity coursed through his veins. Then it switched to me chasing after the ship, running through the halls of the facility, finding Darin, doubled over, looking like he just crawled from a rather secluded corner of hell, then us escaping, then the Jedi attacking me when I dropped him off, where I lost my helmet. Sylvia, who had stayed silent, chuckled at this.

"You saved him, and he stabbed you in the back" Sylvia commented.

It flashed forwards to him arriving at my place, beard and all, and then it went through a really rapid montage of interaction between us, up until we were on Ilum. We were bundled up, fighting the cold, and then he stopped, got the blanket, folded it, and handed it to me. I tried putting it on, then he took it and put it. It froze at the moment when we were staring into each others eyes.

"This is too perfect. You think that he'd go for you? Really? Didn't you see that entire thing? Didn't you hear that cute guy you punched? You're a mess. No family, no friends, nothing. You're a worthless wretch. Why are you even hoping?"

I struggled to respond, but she was right. She just showed me. I was a mess. My whole life has been a complete disaster.

"Look at you. Dirty, poor, violent, and completely lacking self-confidence. You know what men love? Confidence. How could he love you if you don't love yourself?"

I lowered my head, and she continued "Clearly, you hate yourself. All your life, you've been tossed around, abused, harassed, bullied. Your grandpa had no idea what he was doing. Your parents were yanked away from you. You had no friends. Nobody loved you. And you know why?" She started walking towards me, growing larger with every step until she was towering over me. She pointed at the still image of us gazing at each other.

"Because you don't deserve it. You never have, and you never will. They can see it, you know. They see how terrible you are. What a disappointment you've become. What a failure you turned out to be. You think he can't see it too? He's just too nice to point it out. In fact, the only person who doesn't seem to see it is you. You actually think his polite avoidance of the topic means he likes you? That's not how it works." She shrank to a normal size. "Look at me. I'm a beautiful woman. You know that I know what I'm talking about. And maybe, just maybe, you're finally going to see it. See that you are one of the most pathetic people in this entire universe. But don't worry. You get to die knowing that you led him into a trap. Your final act will be to lead the only person who was ever slightly nice to you to his death."

I felt like a bug, one that deserved to be stomped. She was right. I was nobody. I had nobody. Everything I've ever done has hurt others. And now I'm going to get Darin killed. Words couldn't describe how I felt. I well and truly felt like a pointless pile of carbon, one that deserved to be reassembled. That I was a waste of life.

Then, suddenly, I saw a glimmer of hope. "If I'm the bait, he has to care" I said.

She laughed, long and loud. "You must be dumber than I thought. First of all, he's a JEDI. He's going to come no matter what. It's his job. And second, didn't you forget that his master was here too? His master, who was like a father to him. And who are you? You're a twenty year old high school dropout. An idiot. Nobody cares about people like-"

I felt a familiar presence, and suddenly the image was ripped out of my head and I was back in the room with the fireplace. Sylvia was stumbling backwards, gripping her head in pain. Angrily, she tried to force her way back into my head, but there was a new shield protecting it, one that I hadn't put up.

She huffed, more annoyed than upset, and said "Fun's over."


	31. Chapter 31

**-0000-**

Sylvia pulled out a holoscreen and a picture of one of the rooms showed up. Inside were twenty Junel surrounding a large group of Twi'lek's, all of which were bound and gagged in a big circle.

Sadie stared in horror. Men, women, children, none were spared.

"Let's see how much he REALLY cares. He goes for you, they die. He goes for them, you die."

As she watched the screen, the Junel were very suddenly overwhelmed by a large group of clones.

Sadie smirked and said "Looks like your big plan failed", feeling suddenly free from the grip that Sylvia had on her. Maybe Sylvia was wrong. Hope fluttered in her chest. But with every flutter, the words of Sylvia scraped against her, preventing the hope from truly taking flight.

Sylvia smiled and placed her hand on Sadie's chest before sending electricity coursing through her body. Sadie screamed in agony.

The door slammed open, and Sylvia stopped the electricity and turned to see Darin walking in.

"E-1579! E-1579!" Sadie screamed before Sylvia sent electricity coursing through her, overloading every nerve in her body.

"Welcome, Darin! So glad you could join us!" she said before stepping away from the limp body. "Well, me. Glad you could join me. You like my decorations?" She waved her hand at the two halves of Fral Joren and the steaming form of Sadie Wren. "I'm sure you'll understand. They were the bait, and bait is expendable. Once you arrived, I had no need for them."

Sylvia noticed something shift in his demeanor ever so slightly as he ignited both of his sabers and walked towards her.

"What's the matter? You're not gonna say anything? No witty responses? No one-liners?"

She ignited her blade and Sadie's blade, a gold and black hilt with a blade that glowed a dark, navy blue. She whirled the dark blue blade around.

"Beautiful. Shame it was wasted on such a worthless rat."

She grinned as she felt his rage grow even stronger, knowing that she could feed off of it, absorb it, and manipulate it. He was getting closer now, and she could see that his face was struggling to remain in that emotionless facade the Jedi prided themselves on. Even though the anger boiled inside of him at a level she had never seen before, he didn't show it. Well, almost. His eyebrows were furrowed, his mouth was tightly sealed, and behind the eyes she could see a malicious fury.

"You know, our informants in the Order told me all about you. That you're weak. That you're a disgrace to the Order. That you form attachments rather easily."

She backed up a few steps, in hopes to keep more space between the bubbling volcano approaching her and herself. She wanted to talk more, to mess with him on a psychological level. Unbalance him.

"Since you form attachments easily, you were rather easy to bait. I just had to find somebody worth using."

He walked towards her, his gait as even as it was when he arrived. He was struggling to control himself, she could feel it.

"After that business on Noreno, I thought your master would make fine bait. Until I learned about her. Your padawan. The person you care so much about"

He tensed slightly, but continued moving forwards.

"Yes, your padawan. Your only friend in the entire Order. Someone you care for more than anything."

He stopped moving towards her. Sylvia smiled wickedly. She'd gotten through to him.

"You think that I can't see that you care more for her than as just a padawan? I can see that. So when she was transferred to you master and became his padawan, it was like a miracle. The Force gave us the perfect opportunity. And to make things better, you had just lost her. You're freshly unstable. We knew that youd come after them. Youd come after the only two people that ever cared about you."

She noticed the lightsaber shift down slightly, and smiled, knowing that she was really getting to him now. She moved towards him slowly, feeling that the advantage was now safely on her side.

"I cut your only father figure in two, and I cooked your girlfriend. Who's left?" she taunted. She reached out with the Force to attack his psyche, but couldn't break through his defenses.

That's alright. She could take him with the sabers. No problem. He would be feeding power to her anyways.

"You mute? Deaf? Or stupid? Answer me!" she yelled as she swung the two blades at him from multiple directions to open up her attack sequence. To her surprise, he matched her speed and power with his blades, barely even needing to move. Then he sent a quick counter attack with the light blue blade that threw her off, forcing her to abandon the sequence entirely, as it was based on momentum, which he had just eliminated. He didn't press forwards though. He could have went on the offensive, but instead stayed his blade and allowed her to come at him again. Fine, she thought. If he won't attack, that means that she immediately had the advantage. She attacked again, sending the blades at him from every angle, trying every maneuver, and even trying to use the Force to open up holes in his defenses. He blocked everything.

She tried to drain some of his anger to fuel her. That was her first mistake. As soon as she felt it she recoiled. It was horrid, raw, and downright terrifying. It wasn't like any anger she had ever dealt with. This was like crude oil, and she was used to the at least partially refined gasoline.

She could drain it, but it wasn't nearly as helpful as she would like. She felt the first little bits of fear start to appear.

She went into another attack combination, and noticed a small opening appear in his previously impeccable defenses. As she lunged for the opening in a killing strike, the black blade quickly swung upwards, slicing her wrist with the red saber clean off. She cried in agony, realizing that he had created the opening to lure her, and tried to keep up with the blue blade, but his sudden whirlwind counterattack overwhelmed her and he sliced the other wrist off as well. She fell on her knees, the blue and black blades against her neck, and closed her eyes, accepting death. But the death she anticipated didn't come. Instead, she heard the unmistakable sound of sabers being withdrawn. She opened her eyes to see what had happened when a fist smashed into the side of her face like a charging Tauntaun. She blinked, head feeling foggy, and looked up at the figure standing over her as he reared back and punched her again in the face. This time, he didn't pause. The punches came faster and faster, and any time she went unconscious, he would bring her right back so that she could experience the full pain he was inflicting on her. She felt blood pour down her face, her nose break, her jaw snap, and her teeth go flying. Her right eye wouldn't open anymore. But it didn't stop. It would never stop.

**-Tag-**

Having heard nothing from Darin, I left the boys at the main hall and went out in search for him. If I needed, I'd call them in. As I searched through the empty hallways, I could see death everywhere I looked. Jedi, Twi'lek, everybody. Whatever this monster was, I was starting to doubt that the good General could actually handle it. I followed the trail of death until I came across a scene that made my stomach churn. The doors were thrown open. Hung up on the walls were Master Joren, who was sliced in half, and Commander Wren, whose skin was steaming, as if she'd been cooked from the inside. In the corner of the room was a glowing fire, and in front of the fire was the General, repeatedly punching something.

"General?"

He ignored me and continued punching the thing.

"General."

Nothing. It was as if I wasn't even there. I walked in closer to see what he was punching to find… something. Whatever it was, it was way past recognition. The face, and I say face hesitantly, didn't look like a face at all. It was a bloody mass of destroyed tissues and cracked bones. He had quite literally beaten this person into a pulp.

"Stop it! It's dead!" I commanded him. He turned quickly to me, and I saw that his usually dark brown eyes seemed to glow an orange-yellow in the fire. His hands were completely covered in red blood, and his robes were as well. In fact, the floor all around them was covered in blood. The look on his face, the way he seemed to stand there, saying nothing, just staring deep into me, made me fear for my life. Clearly, he had won the fight, but at what cost. He looked like he lost his sanity, like he was reduced to a crazed animal. He stepped away from the body and towards me, like a serial killer stalking his next victim, and I pulled my blaster out and pointed it at him.

"Don't do it" I commanded him. He waved his hand and threw me across the room as if I was nothing but a doll and continued forward to Sadie's body. He cut the restraints holding her up and gently lifted her in his arms. I watched him carry the body out the door, and was about to follow when I noticed two lightsabers on the ground, connected to dismembered hands. One was Sadie's. I decided to grab them both, thinking that they could come in handy later, and followed the General.


	32. Chapter 32

**-Tag-**

Darin called Admiral Cress and myself to the med bay. Sadie was in the bacta-tank, and he was healing her using the Force while she was inside. The Admiral had been pleasantly surprised to see that I was the Captain of the 603rd and that I was not at all like almost every other clone she had met, in the sense that I made jokes, had a name, and a personality.

Outside the med bay, I noticed a small pile of Darin's clothes, such as the Jedi robes and such. Inside, he was sitting at his usual place, but he was wearing a black t-shirt, revealing his tattoo, and jeans, and he was clean shaven. He was nigh unrecognizable. As we walked in, I noticed something different about Darin. It had been a few days since Ryloth, but it had changed him. His eyes darted constantly, as if the whole galaxy was going to attack and he was trying to be ready for anything. I also thought I could see a hint of fear in the eyes. He hadn't left the planet without scars.

Calmly, as if he did this every day, he used the Force to light a match and throw it on the pile of clothes. I didn't question it. He's been a bit off recently. Admiral Cress was less than pleased that he was burning things on her nice floors. She did pride herself on having a very clean and orderly ship.

He put a device to his mouth and began to speak. "I am Darin Kravhenn. You guys know that recently, Fral Joren died on Ryloth." His voice boomed over the loudspeakers throughout the ship. He took a moment to calm his shaking voice and to collect his thoughts, then said "On Ryloth, I learned that there was a mole in the Order. Somebody who knew that Sadie was Fral's new padawan, somebody who had access to personal files, somebody who is really high up on the totem pole. My goal has been to end this war, and I believe that that is the goal of everybody on this ship. Some of you know me, most of you don't. I am not someone who wants to force anybody into doing things against their will. Choice is important, and I've made mine. I am leaving the Order behind. I want to win this war. I want it to end as soon as possible. But that won't be possible if we have somebody way at the top who is leaking information to the Alliance. As long as that happens, our cause is doomed. I have thought about this for a long time, and there is no conceivable way to rid the Order of the mole if they're that high up without being accused of being a traitor and sentenced to death. It's a broken system. I am telling you what I am doing. Now, you must make the decision for yourself. I have had any method the Order can use to track us disabled or destroyed, so we are currently untraced. If you choose to stay with the Order, please arrive on landing pad 14 in two days so that you can be dropped off at Ryloth with a distress beacon and the Order will pick you up. But I am keeping the ship, and I am going to fight on my own terms. Thank you."

He turned off the device and looked at us expectantly.

"I'm in all the way, Sir" I said without a moment's hesitation.

He smiled and said "Thanks Tag. You can call me Darin if you'd like." He then looked at Admiral Cress. "What about you? First thoughts?"

"You're telling me to choose between a broken system I've known all my life and being a fugitive."

"More like a splinter group."

"Where will we get resources?"

"I'll figure something out."

"Why should I trust that you can do that? I know nothing about you."

He nodded. "You're right. Don't trust me. Trust Tag. Trust your gut. Deep down, you've made a decision. You're just afraid to say it."

"How do you know that?"

"The Force. Plus you're young, fresh out of the academy, and probably very liberal, ready for freedom, equality, and change."

She looked to me. "Is he always like this?"

"Eh. Sometimes worse."

"Fine. I'm in. But ONLY because I don't want my brilliant military strategies shared with the Alliance."

He chuckled. "You let me judge the brilliance."

**-0000-**

Than woke up, roaring from the immense pain as a hand pressed a damp cloth against his forehead.

"Shh. You need to rest."

He fell back down and let the pain overtake him as the world faded to black.


	33. Chapter 33

**-Than-**

I shuddered as my eyes slowly opened. My thinking was slow and my breathing short, a lance of pain driving through my lung with every inhalation. My muscles were weak, and my mouth felt like Tatooine.

Where am I? I tried to remember where I was, or how I got here, but the answers evaded me. I struggled to sit up. Just that one effort felt like the extent of my physical abilities. My muscles were screaming in protest as I tried to lift myself up to my feet. Unable to stand on my own, I tried to grab onto the face of a massive rock wall next to me and use that to pull me up. Every fiber in my body begged for me to stop, to lie back down and let them wither away, but I refused. I wouldn't lie down and accept death. I had to find answers. Had to.

I finally managed to pull myself up. I was doubled over, trembling, and leaning heavily on the rock. I felt frail and old. But… I'm not that old. Right? I realized that I couldn't remember my own age. Panicked, I tried to remember other personal details.

My name. My name is… is… Than? I think it's Than. What's my last name? Than… Bellum? No. Than… Vellum? No, that doesn't sound right. Than… Valum? That sounds familiar. I glanced at my leathery skin and noticed a prominent mark seared into the flesh on my chest. I traced the circular groove with my finger. How'd I get this?

I heard a twig snap, and immediately jerked my head towards the noise. Instinctively, I reached for my waist and searched for a weapon, but came up empty. Through bleary eyes, I could make out a lone figure coming from behind a rock. It saw me, and immediately rushed over to me.

"No! No no no! What are you thinking?! You shouldn't be exerting yourself yet!" I heard a young female voice cry, and I felt hands on me. I tried to fight against them as they lowered me to the ground, but wasn't strong enough.

"Quit fighting, grypha" she said.

I tried to argue, but it felt so good to lay down again, and I was so exhausted from the fight to stand, that I succumbed and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

I woke up to the smell of something cooking. I groaned as I sat up. My mouth felt like sandpaper and my lips were dry and cracked. I lay there, smelling the cooking meat, and my stomach rumbled. I realized that I was starving. I rolled onto my stomach, wincing as the rocks on the ground dug into new parts of my body, and tried to lift myself up. I felt my muscles protest, but the rumbling of my stomach drowned out their screams of pain. Slowly, I got to my feet and looked around. It was rather dark. I thought it was night, but now I could tell it was a pile of large rocks that, upon falling, created an opening inside, allowing it to be used as a shelter.

I slowly made my way to the entrance and stumbled outside. The harsh light blinded me, and I awkwardly raised my arm to cover my eyes. After about a minute, my eyes had fully adjusted, and I was able to see where I was. We were at the bottom of a cliff, the top of which was some two hundred meters above me. Behind the rock shelter was an impassable pile of boulders. In front of the shelter was about twenty meters of rock that was rather flat, then it rapidly descended into a forest of trees and bushes, which from where I was looked to be another thirty meters below me. The flat rock I was standing on now was about ten meters wide. Ten meters by twenty meters by thirty meters… 6,000 cubic meters of solid rock. This information was pointless, but it was good to know I could still do simple math.

Feeling another pang of hunger shoot through my system, I looked around to find a pillar of smoke coming from a makeshift fire pit right up against the rock wall, a place I missed because the shelter was close to the edge. Above the fire pit, a lone figure was spinning some sort of animal on a spit. Around the figure, I saw a collection of bowls, ripped up plants, a collection of tools, clothes, a bow and quiver, a large backpack, and my armor, the light shining brightly off of it's dark gray finish. Cautiously, I made my way to the fire, until I stumbled over a rock. Instantly, the figure turned, revealing herself to be a Mirialan. She looked me over quickly, then turned back to the spit.

"Morning, grypha" she said, back turned. "You hungry?"

"Yea" I managed to croak, and I took a spot on a rock that wasn't covered by any of her stuff.

I watched as she turned the spit. Her skin was greenish-yellow, and she had five black diamonds tattooed in a pattern under each eye. From left to right, the first diamonds top right edge was adjacent to the bottom left edge of the next diamond, and the bottom right of the second was adjacent to the top left of the third diamond, and on and on. The far edges of the tattoo, as in the far corners of the first and fifth diamond, were in line with the corners of her eyes, and didn't extend any farther. Her hair was jet black and tied into a bun.

"Quit staring, grypha" she said without looking up.

After a few minutes of silence, she said "Grab me that knife over there."

I grabbed a large knife that was laying on a rock next to a magnifying glass and handed it to her. She took it and cut into the meat. After examining it for a few seconds, she placed the knife on a rock and took the spit off the fire. She quickly took the meat off the stick and into a large bowl, then proceeded to rip the meat off the bones. She placed some meat in a bowl before turning to me, her strikingly blue eyes analyzing my body before turning back to the meat and stacking a lot more on. She walked over and handed the bowl to me.

"Eat, grypha."

I took the bowl and started stuffing the food in my mouth, as if I hadn't eaten in a week, which in all likelihood I hadn't. I looked up with my mouth full of flesh to see her watching me with an amused smile. I swallowed the food before asking "Are you gonna eat?"

"After you." She reached behind the rock she was sitting on and pulled out a canteen, which she tossed my way. "Drink this."

"What is it?"

"Poison."

I threw it back at her, and she easily caught it and threw it back while rolling her eyes. "It's water. If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have saved you."

I took the canteen and hesitantly took a sip. When I felt the cold water hit my tongue, it was like little drops of heaven in my mouth, hydrating the barren wasteland that was my tongue. I tilted my head back and drank the entire thing right then and there, indulging myself with it's cool crisp taste.

"So. Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Than Valum. You?"

"Bree Allstone. Why are you here? Newcomers usually never come out here."

I shifted slightly in my seat. I had no idea what to say here. Do I tell her why I'm here? What happened? Do I lie? What motives does she have? Tentatively, I said "I was searching for information." Not a lie, but not everything.

She looked like she wanted to keep prying, but staved off her curiosity. "So what do you do?"

Great. Another thing I didn't know how to answer. "I was a personal assistant to a very powerful man" I said carefully.

She stared at me, then said "Care to elaborate? On anything you just said? Or are you gonna keep being this vague?"

"I'd rather be vague. It's all rather difficult to explain. What about you?"

"I'm a healer. Well, healer-in-training, but I know what I'm doing, so next year I'll be old enough to be a full-fledged healer. My nan sent me to a nearby village for a few days since she needed to stay home and there was an outbreak at the village. Plus she's old and rather frail, and she knows I love the outdoorsy stuff. So I was sent there while she stayed home. I was coming back when I found you over there." She pointed at a pile of rocks I hadn't noticed before. They were covered in a dried blue substance that I knew to be blood. My blood. "You managed to screw yourself up in every way possible. I don't know how long you were down here before I found you, but any longer and you'd've died. And now we're here." She clapped her hands. "Now that I've shown you how to tell a detailed story, you wanna try?"

"Not really. It won't make sense. How old are you?"

"Seventeen. How old do I look?"

"About that old. Where do you live?"

She pointed up.

Oh Force. Charybdis.

I stood suddenly, wincing in pain, and grabbed for my armor when a stick hit me in the back. I fell flat on the ground and a boot pressed against my neck.

"Not so fast."

"You don't understand! I need to-"

"Yea, I don't understand because you won't say anything. Now, you need to rest. You still need to take a few herbals for that concussion, unless you want permanent brain damage."

"No! There's no time! You've gotta let me go!"

She sighed, pulled something out of a pocket, and stabbed it into my leg. I lost consciousness again.

* * *

The first thing I sensed was the strong smell of… something. It roused me back to consciousness, and I saw that Bree was holding a burning plant to my face. It was morning. I scrambled backwards.

"What the hell?!"

"Morning, grypha. I tranquilized you. Nan never allowed it, but I'm not letting you get brain damage after I had to repair like every part of you AND deal with a few raging infections to keep you from dying. It's okay though. All of the herbs are in you now, doing their job, repairing what I can't."

I scrambled away from her and for my armor, when I felt the stick hit me again.

"Huh. Still psychotic. They shoulda worked by now."

"I'm not psychotic! They're in danger! Your village is!" I cried before she could tranquilize me again.

I noticed her expression change before she scrambled to pack all of her stuff up. I quickly threw the armor on. It felt good to be back in it.

"Come on, grypha. I lead."


	34. Chapter 34

**-Than-**

The climb up to the top was grueling. She was leading me up a precarious path that only someone living in the area would have known about. I was recovering pretty quickly, but I was still weaker than usual. Bree was constantly having to stop dashing up the steep path to wait for me to catch up. The sun was at its peak, and there was little shade as we hurried our way up the path. We only really stopped the hurried ascent three times, and only to let me catch my breath and get a drink of water. Bree seemed unfazed by the rapid pace we were keeping, and I was again reminded of my own weakness.

As we slowly approached the plateau, I became keenly aware of a sickly smell I knew too well.

"Bree! Bree!" I cried after her. She stopped, ten meters from me and about five meters above and waited for me to reach her. When I caught up to her, I took a moment to catch my breath before saying "It's not gonna be pretty."

"Why do you say that?"

"You smell that?"

She sniffed the air around her, then looked at me. "You sure you're alright?"

"Yes. You really don't smell that?"

She shook her head and started moving up again, nimbly leaping over the rocks and easily going through the loose stones. I, on the other hand, was struggling mightily as I followed her. I kept slipping and was constantly forced to try to grab onto something to catch myself. I could have told her what I thought I smelled, but I prayed with every fiber of my being that I was wrong, and I didn't want her to have that fear as well.

The sun was descending as we were nearing the plateau when Bree stopped, covered her face with a cloth, and sprinted forwards, not looking back once to make sure I was keeping up. I struggled to follow, but she was out of sight in no time. Luckily, the path seemed to become easier to see as we had reached the top, and by now I could see it with no problems at all. Seeing Bree disappear gave me a burst of energy, both from fear for my own survival and for hers. If Charybdis or Sylvia was up there… I shuddered at the thought. I was in no shape to fight them. I couldn't protect her from them.

I finally reached the plateau and saw a sickening scene. I vaguely remembered the village, the look of the buildings, the positioning of them and such. Now, the only reason I knew it was the village I was at before was because there was no other cliff that led to where I landed. The buildings were burnt to the ground, leaving only scorched remains. The smell of smoke hung in the air, mingling with the sickly sweet smell I've been smelling for a while. My stomach churned as I realized that I couldn't find any bodies. I started walking through the destruction, kicking debris here or there, when I noticed a path cutting through the trees. Seeing nothing but the leveled buildings here, I made my way through the trees. As I kept walking, the smell got stronger and stronger, and I knew that I was going the right way and that I was approaching a horrifying sight. Finally, the path opened into a rather large clearing, and I stared at the carnage before me. In the middle of the clearing lay a large pile of bodies. Every single villager was there, all sporting various lethal wounds that were inflicted by the Junel. Some were dismembered, and the lost limbs could be seen hanging from the trees. I stepped forward, in a horrified trance, and accidentally kicked a large rock. When I looked down to see what I kicked, I realized that it was not a rock, but instead the severed head of a child. I scrambled backwards, horrified. As I slowly made my way around, seeing the atrocity before me, I noticed Bree. She was kneeling by the pile, holding a hand that was connected to a body that was close to the bottom of the pile. She had her back to me, but I could clearly see her back shuddering, and I heard the sound of sobbing. As I stepped closer, I stepped on a twig. She turned quickly when she heard the loud snap, her nose and eyes red and her face tear stricken. She grabbed her walking stick and came at me. I was able to dodge her first swing, but she quickly spun it back and hit me before I could react. Usually it wouldn't be enough to do anything to me, but in my weakened state it was enough to knock me to the ground. She hit me again, and again, before I quickly turned and grabbed the stick. She kicked me in the arm, but I managed to hold on. I wrenched the stick from her and rolled away, then stood before she could kick me again and threw the stick behind me, adrenaline coursing through me.

"I didn't do this!" I yelled at her as I dodged a sloppy punch. She tried to punch again, only this time instead of just dodging I got behind her and wrapped my arms around her, pinning her arms to her sides.

"I didn't do this. I didn't do this. I didn't do this" I kept saying, arms wrapped around her as she fought to get free. She got a few kicks in, but I refused to let go. Eventually, she seemed to calm down a bit. I let go, and she scrambled away from me, grabbed her stick, and held it pointed at me, ready to strike.

"Who are you." Not a question, but a command. At least she wasn't blindingly flailing around and attacking me.

"Than Valum. Personal aide to-" I stopped as I dodged a strike from her.

"No crap. Talk. Now."

"An agent for Lord Terrias, the leader of the Alliance. I learned information I shouldn't have known, and was tricked into coming here to be executed. I fought back, which is how I ended up falling. When I fell, the village was still there, I swear. I believe that Charybdis did this. He's an assassin for Lord Terrias, and he and a group of Junel were the ones who tried to kill me. I swear on my blade." I took out the hilt of my saber and tossed it on the ground in between us. She glanced at the hilt, then at me, before putting the stick down and sitting down, crying.

I felt her pain. Truly, I have been where she is. I looked around at the grim scene, and had an idea. I knelt next to Bree and gently said "Bree."

She ignored me, so I stood up and walked to the pile of bodies. Carefully, I maneuvered my way around to avoid stepping on anybody and carefully took a body off the top of the pile, laying it on the ground. I then took another from the pile and layed it next to the one I had just laid down. Then another, and another, making sure to cross their arms on their chests to conserve space and so that none were touching, making sure to give each a sacred spot on the ground.

"What are you doing?!"

I turned and said "Preparing the bodies. What is the tradition in your village for when somebody dies? What happens?" Seyley are very social, and the whole village was like a family. I had a gut feeling that the same thing applied to this secluded place. A proper ceremony was important for the memory of the deceased, and I was determined to provide that for each villager. Bree saved my life, and the Alliance ruined hers. The least I could do was give the proper send-off, to try and ease the pain she felt by giving her a chance to mourn and by being there for her. I never had that.

I spent the entire night and the next five days collecting bodies, carrying them to a special pyre, and burning them. Bree would sit there, tears running down her face, silently watching the bodies go up in flames. The flesh would burn off in less than an hour, at which point the fire was put out and the remaining bones were thrown over a specific part of the cliff, where they'd plummet three hundred meters into a lake. Overall, the process took a little over an hour. Usually, the entire day would be used to honor the person, but Bree said it wasn't necessary. There were too many bodies. Whenever a body was dismembered, I tried to find the missing body part. I climbed the trees to grab the limbs that were thrown all over and bring them down. Then I had to put it together, like a puzzle. Had to figure out what went where and with whom. We stopped a couple times to eat and drink, and I would put it on hold so Bree could sleep. I slept sparingly, and I made sure that I was always awake before her. Few words were exchanged. Towards the end, she wasn't crying. She was all cried out.

Her family was on the bottom of the pile. When I got to them, she burst into a completely new round of tears. She insisted that her parents be burned together, holding hands, and she took a patch off of her arm and placed it with her nan to be burned. The patch was the sign in the village for healer, and her nan's was nowhere to be found. She took a ring off the finger of one body, brought it to her mouth, kissed it, and placed it on her left index finger. It was a simple metal circle, but she held it as if it was made of solid gold.

"Boyfriend" she said, noticing my questioning glance. "Five years. My best friend." She choked up a bit, then said "He told me he'd propose to me using that ring. It was a joke, but I always thought…" She smiled at the memory, then glanced at her hand. "Never thought I'd put anything on this finger" she said quietly, almost to herself.

The widow finger. Seyley had a similar tradition. A female would wear a ring on a certain finger if her husband died, showing herself to be a widow. It told others of the pain she had felt, and always the special treatment came. With how interconnected the village was, nobody could fake the system.

As the sun was setting on the final day, the last body was burned. A little boy, one who Bree knew and had treated before. After the bones were thrown into the water, she hugged me and whispered "Thank you."


	35. Chapter 35

**-Than-**

After the ceremonies, Bree had to get out of there. It was too painful for her. We went back down the path, moving slowly, and with no real destination. The chatter was dulled, with me usually leading the way and her occasionally correcting my path. Otherwise, she seemed really distracted. She was floating behind me, present but mind elsewhere. A few times, I noticed her absentmindedly rubbing the ring on her finger.

After a few days, we made it back to the rocks where I fell. I decided to go back to the rock shelter, noticing that my dried blood was still on the large rock. I took her backpack off my back and layed it by the rocks before going to the treeline and finding some sticks on the ground to use as fuel for a fire. I returned to find her sitting glumly on a rock. I grabbed the firestarter and set the sticks ablaze. With the fire going, I left again to get some larger logs. When I found a tree branch I thought to be a suitable size, I ignited the whitish-blue blade of my saber and cut it off the tree before carrying it to our campsite and cutting it into more manageable pieces. I placed three in the fire, setting the rest for later, and sat by the fire, next to Bree. I felt as strong as I was before taking a tumble off the cliff. I glanced at the sun, which was slowly setting behind us. Few hours, and darkness would hit, bringing with it freezing cold temperatures and various predators. I reached into the backpack and pulled out a blanket and some preserved meat, handing the a piece to Bree, who took it and nibbled on an edge, and the blanket, which she hugged around her as the temperature began to drop.

"How'd you know?" she asked, staring into the fire. This was the first time she asked me a question in over a week.

"Know what?"

"You know. Up there." She waved a hand absently, and I was reminded of the first time she had told me where she lived. The beginning of this journey of ours.

"I know how you feel" I responded, taking a stick and poking the fire.

"You mean you…" She trailed off when she saw me nodding. "So you-"

"I tried to give you what I never got."

"Oh." We sat there in silence and listened to the crackling of the fire. "So how'd you deal with it?"

"Killing."

She laughed, but the smile quickly disappeared when she realized that I wasn't kidding, and she scooted away from me. "You lied to me."

I sighed, and said "I did not kill the village. That, I did not lie about. But yes, I wasn't completely truthful with you. I am an assassin."

"I trusted you."

"I'm sorry. I truly am. At first, I didn't trust you. The moment I realized you were not with the Alliance was at the village. If I'd told you then, you would have tried to kill me. I'm sorry. I didn't want to fight you because I didn't want to… you know. Do the one thing I'm good at."

"You're a monster."

I hung my head. "I know. I find no pleasure in killing."

She pulled the blanket tighter around her and asked "Then why do it?"

"I don't know anymore. I told myself it was right. That I was killing the bad guys. I followed the orders without question, believing that they were just. I was a loyal soldier. But now…" I glanced up at the ledge, 200 meters above us, and said "They lied, tried to kill me, and now I see them slaughter a village in cold blood without cause." I turned to face her. "I'm sorry."

"I don't know if I believe you."

"No more lies. I promise."

She stared at me, trying to see if I was telling the truth. Finally, she asked "What's that?" and pointed at the hilt of my saber. I took it off the belt and held it in the light of the fire so she could see it. "A Seyley weapon. One that can fight against Jedi, and one we are trained with from birth." I activated both parts, showing her how to turn on the main blade and then the blade that ran the length of the hilt.

"Can I hold it?"

"Be careful. Please" I said as I handed it to her.

"Woah. It's heavier than I expected." She activated the main blade and carefully swung it around, hearing the humming as it sliced through the cold air. "How long did you train to use this?"

"All my life."

"Really?"

I nodded. "It's tradition. Every child learned the basics, and if they excelled their training continued."

"You excelled?"

"More than you can imagine."

She took a careful jab at a log, searing a hole in it. "Can it cut through anything?"

"More or less. Certain metals aren't as easy to cut through, and some can't be penetrated. Certain energy shields can resist them. Some species are naturally resistant for one reason or another. And of course, other sabers can stop it. There are a few other things, but that's the gist of it."

She took a swing at one of the rocks, cutting it in half. "What's a Jedi?"

"You serious?"

"Yea. You said it's a Seyley weapon to fight Jedi. And from everything you said, I would guess that Seyley is just your species. So then what's a Jedi?"

"They are extremely powerful individuals. Their Jedi Order is the other side in the galactic war. There's the Alliance, and the Order. I don't know how long ago this war started, but they've been the enemy for as long as anybody can remember."

"So Jedi are just all the people in the Order?"

"No. Jedi make up a small portion of the Order, but are extremely powerful in the government. Not sure on specifics there. But they are really powerful and really dangerous. The reason that there are so few is because they need to be Force-sensitive, and that is rare. They use lightsabers, which are really similar to what you're holding right now."

She performed a few experimental swings in a row. "If they're so powerful, then how does the Alliance survive?"

"We have Sith, which are basically like Jedi but with the Alliance. I only know of three. But they also have the Seyley, Junel, and Maleko. All three species are made up of individuals who can at least put up a fight against a Jedi."

"What's the war about?"

"I'm not totally sure. The events that started it are long forgotten. But now, it's a fight to destroy the other side."

"Who's winning?"

"Nobody. It's basically been a stalemate for as long as I can remember."

"Why can't both sides just not fight?"

Good question. I was about to answer, give her my opinion, when I thought I heard a familiar sound that put me on high alert. Instantly, I jerked my head up and searched the sky. Bree noticed this and lowered the saber.

"What's going on?"

I ignored her as I scanned the starry sky. Then, I saw it. An Alliance carrier ship. The moon shone off it's purple plated exterior as it appeared over the cliff and started to descend to our location.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Give me the saber. Pack up. Now!" I said.

She deactivated my saber and gave it back to me before hurriedly throwing things in her backpack. I grabbed some rocks and tossed them on the fire, putting it out. It was too late. The carrier was already hovering six meters above the ground where we needed to go, perfectly still, clearly being handled by an expert pilot. The turrets on the bottom were trained on our position, but weren't firing for some reason.

"Than…"

I activated my saber and said "Get behind me." She obliged, and I saw the terror in her eyes. Something seemed to snap inside me, a protective instinct I didn't know I had. I didn't care what happened to me, I would NOT let her die.

The bottom of the ship opened, and a small group of Seyley jumped out, blasters aimed at me.

"Vindicator" said a familiar voice.

"Ster Bureem. Who sent you? Terrias? Grellan? Lysis?"

He stepped forwards, carbine trained at my chest. "Nobody sent me."

"Then why are you here? To bring me back to the Alliance? Get me to rejoin? If so, then you can save your breath. It will never happen."

"So it's true then. You have betrayed the Alliance. You realize that your betrayal has tarnished the name of the Seyley? That we are being replaced by the Junel? That they're killing the Seyley?"

"THEY BETRAYED ME! They sent me here and tried to execute me! An execution that was ordered by Terrias!"

"And why would they do that? Terrias doesn't do things without reason, you know that."

"Because I learned that they fabricated Seyley legends! And I was starting to uncover where this whole Wort nonsense started! I learned that they were executing the Seyley from Noreno for some reason, and it was being locked completely from view. Even I couldn't view it, meaning that there was a conspiracy by Terrias, Lysis, Grellan, Charybdis, or all of them. One I didn't know about. I tried to imagine that I was being paranoid, but when they tried to kill me, I was certain."

"So you betrayed your people?"

"I never did that."  
"Well apparently you did, because now innocent Seyley are dying, and it's on your hands. I thought you were better than this."

"I didn't betray anybody. I knew full well what the information could do if it was let out, so I swore to never reveal it. And I never did. How anybody could imagine that I was turning on the Alliance is beyond me. And then they went and massacred an entire village for no reason!"

"You're one hell of a liar, you know that?"

I deactivated the saber and threw it on the ground in front of me, just like I did with Bree. "I'm not lying. You want to see the carnage? Go up there. You'll see I'm not lying about the village. And about the rest, I don't know. Sylvia must have gotten in my head and seen it. She got the wrong idea, and now we're here. But I swear on my blade that I never betrayed anybody. They were the ones who stabbed us in the back." I stressed the 'us' in that statement, making it very clear that we were in the exact same boat.

I saw the anger start to waver as he glanced at the shining silver hilt lying on the ground. I had thrown down my weapon to show the truth. That was a huge deal in Seyley custom. Slowly, he lowered the carbine.

"Alright. I believe it. So what now?"

I let out a massive sigh of relief, thankful that I'd gotten an ally. Ster was loyal, but he was more loyal to his people than the Alliance.

"I don't know. If the Alliance finds out that I'm alive, they'll come for me with everything they've got. Part of me wants to fight back. Part of me wants to run and hide."

Ster lifted his carbine suddenly and pointed it behind me, yelling "Identify yourself!"

I turned around and saw that Bree was standing far behind me, hidden in the shadows, and he was aiming right at her. I stepped in the line of fire. "Put the gun down, Ster" I ordered.

"You know her?" he asked, a bit stunned that I was willing to take a bolt for her.

"She saved my life."

Ster nodded and lowered the carbine. "Apologies, ma'am. We're all on high alert."

Bree walked forwards and nodded, as if she understood what he meant. I noticed that even though she was with us, she was still slightly behind me, distrustful of these strangers, like a child hiding behind the legs of their parents when some distant relatives come to visit.

Ster picked up the hilt of my saber from the ground and handed it to me, then took me by surprise by handing me the carbine as well. "Whatever the plan, it's not safe to stay here. We barely escaped on our ship and took a few hyperspace routes here. The Alliance will come looking. If you'd like, you can come with. We have space, and could always use another fighter if things got ugly." Part of me thought this was a trap, but I quickly dismissed the notion. This was genuine. We reach out our arms to others in similar situations because that's how our race survives. The group mentality was omnipresent.

I started to follow him onto the ship when I stopped and looked at Bree, who was standing there, terrified. I didn't understand the desire to protect her, but seeing the fear broke my heart.

"You can come too, you know. I won't just leave you."

"I've never been anywhere but here."

I knew what she meant. She was afraid of leaving. Afraid of being somewhere unfamiliar. Afraid of untold dangers that lie in this path. Afraid of the strangers.

"It will be dangerous, but not as dangerous as staying here. But no matter what you choose, I'll be with you. Every step of the way." As soon as I said it, I knew it was true. I owed her my life. I will not just leave her behind to fend for herself.

She glanced fearfully from me to the ship. "What about them? You trust them?"

"I do."

She nodded and hesitantly followed me to the ship.


	36. Chapter 36

**-Sadie-**

Empty. The world around me was empty. I was in an inky void, alone with my thoughts. There was no way of knowing where I was. The laws of nature didn't apply here. I could be standing upside down and wouldn't even know it. I've tried laying down. It just makes the bottom of my feet the 'floor', with gravity changing to pull me to that floor. There was no bed, no food, no water, and no life. I couldn't sense anything. As a matter of fact, I couldn't even sense myself. I was in a weird state of limbo, not sure of anything. Was I dead? Was I alive? Did it even matter?

There was no sun or moon. No stars. No galaxy I could see above me, below me, or to any side of me. I had no way of knowing what time it was. I tried to sleep at regular intervals, but that proved to be challenging. With my inability to count days due to the lack of a day-night cycle, I decided to use sleeps as my measuring stick. This proved to be problematic as I lost count of how many sleeps I was at at about 117, and that was long ago.

Is this what happens when you die? An eternity of oblivion? A ceaseless solitude?

Darin had said that your soul becomes a part of the Cosmic Force upon death, where it loses its identity.

My name is Sadie Wren. I'm a Mandalorian. My parents died when I was five, which is when I moved to Coruscant with my grandpa, who died when I was 19. I'm a twenty year old high school dropout who happened to be Force-sensitive. I met Darin in a gladiator style arena battle, where we were assigned as partners, then he was captured by a Sith lord and taken to some random ship in space, where he was experimented on. I followed in an attempt to save him, and I like to take full credit for him still being alive. Darin Kravhenn was my teacher and best friend, and recently I started feeling... differently… about him, which is stupid since it's completely forbidden by the Jedi Code, which he grew up in. Darin managed to get me in the Order as his padawan, even though I shouldn't have been able to because I didn't grow up in that world. I didn't know how, and never really wanted to find out. But then some Council member died, and Grand Master Sorsee took over Assignment. He instantly terminated the apprenticeship, reassigning me with Darin's old master, Fral Joren. A distress signal from Ryloth sent us there, where we found a beautiful lady who captured us before revealing herself to be a Sith. She then told us that we were bait, and killed Fral Joren since she only needed one to lure Darin to his death. She showed her sadistic nature afterwards, finding pleasure in murdering Fral and then torturing me, physically and psychologically. Darin arrived, walked into the trap, and then she used Force lightning on me, bringing about an unbearable wave of pain. I could feel my life draining away. She had some Force shield/cloak/barrier thing to keep Darin from protecting me in any way. As the pain hit levels I could never imagine and as the life was almost completely drained from me, something happened. The world disappeared, and I was here. No pain, no bindings, nothing. Just floating through this place.

If I could remember all of this, then that meant one of two things: either Darin was wrong, or I wasn't dead. Most likely it was the former, as Darin has never died before. If that was the case, it was awfully cruel. Let the person float in unending nothingness with the only thing available to do being to ponder your life. Most of the time here, that's all I've been doing. Unfortunately, the majority of my life sucked, and the good parts were tarnished as the Sith's words scraped against every memory I thought of, leaving me feeling hopeless, worthless, and unwanted. Like I didn't deserve the very few good parts, like nobody ever cared about me, like my very existence was a waste of organic matter.

If the latter were true, and I really wasn't dead, then I probably wouldn't remain this way for long. Darin was powerful with the Force, but he still blindly ran into a trap. She had every advantage she could possibly want. I had no way of knowing what all she had set up for him, but I had serious doubts that Darin could withstand everything, and then win. Every fiber of my being wanted him to win, prayed to gods I didn't believe in, even prayed to the Force itself, even though I really don't think that that's how it works. But the reality of the situation was that she had the advantage. Plain and simple. The probability of her winning was overwhelmingly high, in which case I would die soon after.

Jeez, I was starting to sound like Darin.

At this point I kind of accepted death, unless I was already dead, in which case I would have liked to have amnesia as well.

Something stirred in the darkness. I squinted, but couldn't make anything out. Maybe it was Death itself, finally ready to whisk me away into the underworld. Maybe I was on a caravan heading to the fields of damnation, we hit a bump, and I fell off, and he's just now coming back to pick me up. As ridiculous as that sounded, I lived in a world where some entity everybody called "the Force" lived inside of me and allowed me to lift things with my mind, so really nothing was out of the realm of possibility.

I felt some more movement, and realized that it was the darkness itself that was swirling around me. I tried to move my body, but realized that I was no longer in control of myself. My arms and legs moved with the flow of darkness, like I was letting myself get carried away by a river of sentient water. Except I wasn't letting it happen. The river was just forcing me to go with it, and it wasn't allowing me to resist in any way. I felt myself get pulled up, or at least up in whichever way I was. As I traveled, I noticed the tiniest pinprick of light. I started getting pulled faster, and the light became larger. I realized that the light was like the edge to this place. Finally, I can officially be alive or dead. I began to worry that I was going to be shot out and splatter against whatever was on the other side of it's shimmering surface. By the time I was almost at the edge, I was moving at like mach 300, and it wasn't slowing down. I closed my eyes and braced myself for impact as I was shot through the surface.


	37. Chapter 37

**-Sadie-**

I woke up expecting the blistering fires of eternal damnation. Instead, I was on a med-bed. There was a blanket covering me, and I was wearing a medical gown. On the walls were monitors, beeping constantly as they monitored me via things that were stuck to me everywhere. A cuff on my arm and on my leg, a thing on my finger, a patch stuck to my chest, all connected by wires to the walls. I had an oxygen mask on my face, which was connected to a big tube to the wall, and an IV stuck to my right arm, connected to some bags on hooks. I realized that my left arm was asleep. I looked over to find that my arm was bent at the elbow so that my forearm and hand were raised up and a sleeping figure was holding my left hand with both hands, keeping it up in the air. I couldn't make out the face since it was awkwardly pressed against the bed, but I thought I could recognize him. I moved my left arm slightly and the head shot up, eyes blinking as they adjusted to the light and looking around in confusion, before settling on me. My heart did a little tap-dance upon seeing Darin, a tap-dance which was completely caught by the EKG. He was clean shaven now, and was wearing a light blue t-shirt which showed the tattoo on his left arm, but otherwise he looked exactly like I remembered. When our eyes met, his face burst into a brilliant smile.

"Am I dead?" I managed to whisper.

He started laughing, a pure, joyful sound of utter relief. I didn't see what was so funny about that. In my mind, it was a perfectly legitimate question.

"No. No you're not" he said when the laughing ceased.

A door opened, and a medical droid arrived, checking the screens and then me.

"Good. You are awake." It turned to Darin. "Sir, due to the extensive time she has been unconscious, I must do a thorough checkup of all bodily functions, and it will need to be done for a week. I understand that you have been by her side nonstop, but during this week you will only be allowed with her for an hour a day, around dinner. All other times must be for tests and rests."

"I'm staying."

"Quite the contrary, sir. Your presence will only slow her progress."

"I said I'm staying."

"You will not stay. If you do not comply, then we will have to escort you out."

"Good luck."

"Darin" I whispered. He switched focus to me. "I'll be fine. Go. Don't make the droid unhappy."

He hesitated, obviously wanting to argue with me as well, before saying "I'll be back every day" and leaving. As much as I hated to see him go, I knew that it would spiral out of control and Darin was going to massacre every single droid in this place.

"Good riddance" the droid said when the door closed, and I bit my tongue to keep myself quiet. "Now that he is gone, you need rest, and then we will begin the tests tomorrow morning."

* * *

Tomorrow morning came too soon. I closed my eyes, and immediately I was being roused awake by a grumpy medical droid to begin testing. He explained everything in rapid-fire snippets of confusing medical mumbo jumbo, then hooked me up to one machine or another, and performed the test. One of the bizarre ones was something he called an 'electro selling graph' or something like that which measured some sort of wave activity from my head, and then he hooked a bunch of electrodes to my head and watched as a bunch of squiggly lines appeared on a screen. I know the explanation is supposed to be helpful, but I wouldn't be able to understand a thing even if I was in top form. To be honest, it reminded me of Darin. I could ask a simple question and he'd go into this whole spiel on how culture shapes personality or some other crap I really didn't ask to know. It was incredibly annoying.

The day seemed to rush by. I could barely remember most of it, as each test seemed to blur into the next. Having the chance to see and actually interact with other people at dinner was all I had to look forward to.

* * *

When dinnertime finally arrived, I was shocked to find that I had a bit of a crowd waiting for me. Darin was there, as promised, but so were Catherine, Tag, Thorn, Brick, Q, Stan, and a few of the other clones who trained or talked with me. This made the med-droid very upset.

"Do you ever follow protocol?" he barked at Darin. "No more than two visitors may meet with the patient at this stage of recovery."

"To hell with protocol. It's not my fault they all care."

"You brought them all back here. You are the one responsible for this violation. You will meet with her tonight, but no other night, to prevent this from happening again. All of you, shoo." He waved a robotic hand at everyone to leave. There was grumbling and a bit of resistance, but eventually everybody filed out.

"I should have you memory-wiped" Darin muttered.

"That will accomplish nothing. I have a singular purpose, and that is to heal. Protocol must be followed to allow for optimum recovery. A wipe of my memory to clear any 'personality' you find distasteful will not change that. The wipe would only make you feel like you have accomplished something in your current upset state."

"Empathy is important to the recovery process" Darin said.

"Indeed. And I have been programmed to empathize with the patient. Using advanced neural monitoring, I am capable of optimizing the amount of organic emotional support that they require for recovery. The current patient, however, happens to have a rather low dopamine threshold, and prolonged social interaction has a negative effect. You should know, as you have a similar threshold. However, it is only her emotions that matter to me. You are not recovering, therefore, your mental state does not matter."

"Ouch" I said with a smile as the droid left through a side door to do whatever he does in there. Darin sat in the chair he was in when I first woke up and asked "How ya doing?"

I shrugged. "I've been better. What have you been up to? Any big missions?"

"No. I uhh… I'm actually AWOL."

This puzzled me. "A… a wall?"

He smiled, though I could tell it was strained. "No. AWOL. Absent without leave."

"Why? Are you gonna return?"

He shook his head. "No. I've severed all ties from the Order."

"But… but why?"

"In the… confrontation… with the Sith, she let slip that there was a spy. An informant, and one who happened to be really high in the hierarchy. With how the Order operates, anything I would do would end up badly. So I made an executive decision. I left."

"So then… where are we?"

"Master Joren's ship."

"Oh." I let that sink in. "So you took his ship and now you're going to fight against the Alliance by yourself?"

"I got everyone on the ship to back me up."

"Right. And they're here because they want to?"

"Come on. You know me. I gave everyone a choice. My clones, Master Joren's clones, and all staff on the ship. Anybody who didn't want to be a part of it got a free pass to leave."

"And how many actually stayed?"

"All of my men, basically the entire ship crew, and about twenty five percent of Master Joren's clones."

I nodded. That was a rather pathetic number, if I was being honest. Against the full might of the Alliance, he would barely make a dent.

"Sadie, I need to know something. I need to know where you stand. If you would like to go back to the Order, or stay here. It's only fair."

I could tell that it hurt for him to even give me that option. I had a little deja vu moment, but couldn't remember why. "Come on. You know what I'll say."

"I don't want to assume anything."

"Yes. I stay. I never cared much for the Order anyways."

It looked like a great weight was lifted from his shoulders as relief washed over him.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Back on Ryloth, with… you know, Fral and all, how'd you beat Sylvia?"

He shifted in his seat and it looked like his whole face seemed to darken. "I'd rather not talk about it."

This filled me with a hundred questions, but if he doesn't want to talk about it, fine. Maybe I can get some idea from someone else.

"Alright. Uhmm, when Sylvia was doing all of that psychological stuff, did you happen to… you know… see any of it? Hear what was said?"

"I had to go in your mind, find the source, find her, and then block her. And it wasn't easy. Yes, I heard a portion and saw a bit."

Great. Just what I wanted to hear. "So… where did you begin to hear from?"

He thought back, then said "Something about stabbing you in the back."

Oh kriff. "And you saw…?"

"Ilum."

"Right." Of course he saw that. I felt my face redden. "Could we pretend that that never happened? That you never saw any of that?"

Neither of us realized that the med-droid was back until he loudly said "Time is up. You must leave now."

"Are you serious? I've only been her for a few minutes" Darin said, anger creeping into his voice.

As he was ushering Darin out, he said "Oops. I must have forgotten to mention that due to your violation of protocol, you are not only limited to one day, but your time has been drastically cut as well. Good bye!" he said as Darin stepped right outside the boundaries of the door and it shut in front of him.

"Really?!" I yelled at the droid. "What if I don't want him to leave?"

"Your neural systems were beginning to show signs of distress."

"So what? I didn't want him to leave!"

"I do apologize, but protocol must be followed, and just because you like him doesn't mean I have to."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means I apologize for the conflict you experience on a day-to-day basis. You simultaneously like him and hate yourself for it. You hate a lot of things, I might add."

"I hate you."

"Yes, I can see that. Anything else?"

"I wish you were dismantled and turned to scrap."

The robot patted my knee and said "Me too. It isn't easy to be created with both an emotional and organic personality using organic material and then programmed with a strict and calculating medical program that never fails to follow protocol. I often wish for an escape from this existential nightmare I exist in. Good night."

I gaped at the droid as it left the room and left me alone in the dark.


	38. Chapter 38

**-Tag-**

I've got to admit, it was kind of funny seeing Darin get verbally attacked by the med-droid. Sure, I felt bad for him, but it was still hilarious.

After dinner, I walked into the recovery room with the Admiral to speak with Sadie. Darin tried to walk with us, but I put a hand up and told him that he would just make things worse. No idea where he is now, but oh well. He'll suck it up.

"Oh look. He actually listened" said the droid when he noted that Darin was not with us. To Sadie, he said "For the complete pain in the circuits he is, I must admit that he did a spectacular job repairing your body. Nobody tell him I said that. I want the hate to be mutual." With that, he wheeled out of the room. I noted that the Admiral was trying her best to suppress a grin.

"Wait, what did he mean about Darin?" Sadie asked, confused.

"He wants the hate between them to be mutual" I responded flatly, earning a laugh from the Admiral.

"No, not that. About Darin repairing me?"

"He didn't tell you?"

Sadie shook her head no, and the Admiral and I exchanged confused glances.

The Admiral cleared her throat and said "Well, when Darin carried you back here, you were basically dead. No life signs, nothing. No monitors could pick up a heartbeat, pulse rate, nothing. But he insisted that you were still alive, barely hanging on. We assumed he was in denial, but we didn't want to mess with him. So we did what we could to help him until he got back to normal. Put you in a bacta-tank, as per his request. How long was she in there? Two weeks? Three?"

"Three weeks and two days" I said.

"Yea. Twenty-three days straight in the bacta. All that time he never left the room except to use the bathroom. He said he was healing you through the Force. No idea how that works, but whatever. At twenty-three days, all the possible healing that could be done was done. Body was operational. But you still weren't alive. So you were put in a med-bed for… how long?"

"Twelve days."

"Yea. So he was just sitting here with you for twelve days, unable to do anything to help. Then, a day before you woke up, he walked out of the room to go shave or something, saying he had a vision. I don't know. I figured he was being weird again."

Sadie's mouth started to turn into a smile.

"Oooooo" the Admiral said, noticing the smile, and Sadie's face reddened.

"What?" I asked, confused by what just happened. The two women ignored me, so I asked "What did I just miss?"

"Nothing" the Admiral said.

"No, that's not nothing. Something happened."

She just turned to Sadie, rolled her eyes, and said "Men. So clueless."

"Hey!"

Sadie laughed, then asked "So how long have you two been friends?"

"Since Darin got here. The Admiral and I have talked quite a lot about strategy, troops, and other work things at first, then to personal stuff and gossip and such. The Admiral and I have become friends."

"You don't call her Catherine? Or Caty? Or Cathy? Always Admiral?"

"I have not been explicitly told to call her by her name, so I have respectfully called her Admiral."

"Wait what? I thought you were joking!" said Catherine, surprised.

"I was being cautious" I responded.

"Well, call me Catherine, or Caty, or Cathy."

"Will do, Admiral" I said with a slight smile.

Sadie shifted uncomfortably, and asked "Do either of you know what happened on Ryloth between Darin and Sylvia? Did he talk about it? Cause when I asked, he refused to tell me."

It felt like the air was sucked completely out of the room.

"I've asked him how he managed to beat someone who was able to kill Fral Joren. All he said was 'hubris'. Other than that, nothing" Caty said. "Tag knows more than I do."

I was on the spot. As all eyes turned to me, I debated on how much to say. Darin wasn't talking and had good reason not to. "I don't know much. Most of the action happened when I wasn't around. There were hostages, and Darin sent us to free them while he went at the Sith alone. We easily overpowered the hairy beasts guarding them, then I went after him. When I got there, I saw you hanging from a wall, looking very dead, and Fral hanging next to you, sliced in two and very very dead. Darin was on the opposite side of the room with… someone. I couldn't recognize them, or tell anything about them. But he was punching them. The person was dead. No lightsaber wounds other than two missing hands, no blaster scoring, nothing. He beat them to death, and even after they were dead, he kept attacking. When I ordered him to stop, he looked at me, and I quite honestly was afraid for my life. It was like something snapped inside him."

Sadie sat silently and internalized this information. Finally, she mumbled "She got to him."

"Looks that way. But it didn't go as planned. He still won."

"I guess you're right."

The med-droid entered the room. "Does EVERYBODY that she meets have to say things that mess with her serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine levels? Out! Out with you two! Stop making her upset!"

"Her… her what?" I managed to say before we were roughly forced out and the door was closed in our faces.

"Now you know how it feels?"

I turned to see Darin sitting on the floor against the far wall with a knife and a block of wood, which he was carving. Little slivers of wood were on the ground around him.

"Where did you get that from?! Why are you making a mess on my ship?!" Caty cried.

He shrugged and continued carving little chunks off. "Found it in one of Fral's boxes. Always wondered how he got those little trinkets." He waved the knife, and I noticed a box to his side with a bunch of intricately carved figurines of different creatures around the galaxy. I saw a Wampa, a Tauntaun, a Porg, a Wookie, and countless others.

"So what are you making?" I asked. He shrugged again.

"You know what you're doing?" I asked, seeing him try to make a small cut but making the wood splinter, breaking off a much larger piece than intended.

"Not a clue" he responded. "You don't like me very much."

"That's not true."

"Not you. You." He pointed the knife behind me at Caty.

"That's not true" she said.

He put the knife down and looked at her. "That's not true and you and I both know it" he said confidently.

She opened and closed her mouth like a fish, but no words came out. He smiled triumphantly and went back to the block of wood. "You don't like me because I'm young. You think I'm inexperienced, incompetent, unfit to lead. I'm too emotional. Too much of a loose cannon." He grunted as he cut his finger. I watched a few drops hit the floor as he examined it curiously before healing the wound and going back to carving. "You think I don't care about the other people. About you, or Tag, or anyone else. You think I just take what I want with no regard for others. Kind of like this ship. You think I just asserted command. That I didn't earn it. That I assume that just because of my power and who I am, everyone will kneel before me. You don't understand how I could ever willingly leave the Order, and you think that I'm using the Force to manipulate each clone that stays by my side, as well as Sadie. Since you have an incredible sense of loyalty to the Order, you see me as a traitor who deserves to be locked away and executed for defying his government. But you aren't fully sold. I have left the Order, but I have essentially become an extremist. In that sense, you are okay with me since I am still fighting for the same cause as the Order, albeit in a different manner. And lastly, you think I'm all talk. That when it comes down to it, I'm not nearly as powerful as I pretend to be. I'm not as smart as everyone thinks. I'm not the person everyone sees. You blame me for Fral's death, and you blame me for Sadie almost dying. You despise me, but aren't able to say that because you feel like everybody else is under my little 'spell'. So you pretend to like me. You even stayed on the ship, pretending to be on my side when the truth is that your loyalty lies not with me but with the Order, and anything that I do that would hinder the Order you plan to report to them." He looked at her calmly.

I was speechless. I never would have imagined that she thought this. I turned to her and asked "Is this true?"

"Of course it is" Darin said.

"Is this true?!"

She looked down at her feet and nodded. I took a few steps away from her.

"I understand most of your qualms with me. I too blame myself for what happened to Sadie and Master Joren. Even though I know I shouldn't, I still do. I had no control over that situation. The damage to the both of them was unavoidable. Nonetheless, they were only targeted because they were used to bait me, and for that I feel guilty. Your loyalty to the Order is admirable, and much of your negative perception of me stems from my willingness to turn my back on them. You are right about me being inexperienced. I am, and I won't deny it. I did not earn this ship. Now, I apologize if I come across as self-centered, or uncaring, or any of that. How are your parents?"

Caty seemed a little taken aback by the question, then suspiciously said "They're doing well. Why?"

"I never knew my parents. Father is unknown, and mother died in childbirth. I was born in a really poor section of Coruscant, and from the beginning I was alone. Master Joren found me at an orphanage by accident, took me as his padawan, and became like a father to me. He was the only person I had when I was in the Order. Nobody else liked me, or accepted me because I was different. Then, Sadie came. She became my best friend. To see them both hanging there lifelessly, I snapped. Then when I sensed the barest trace of life from Sadie… I had no choice. If there was a chance to save her, I had to take it." He stopped whittling away and took a deep breath. "Point is, I haven't been myself recently. The whole time, I've been holding my breath, hoping against hope that Sadie would be okay. When she woke up, it was like I could breathe again. He went back to carving the wood and said "You're wondering why I'm saying all of these things. I'm trying to make you understand, and make you realize that most of your doubts about who I am, while they do make sense given the circumstances, are not in my opinion accurate to who I am. I understand that there's no way to prove this to you. I want you to trust me, and see me for who I really am, not for this shadow I've been. And for the case of leaving the Order, I want you to understand that I never belonged. Only one person in the Order gave me a chance. Everybody else shunned me. Fral was my only real reason to stay with the Order, and when he died, the connection shattered. I am explaining these things to get you on my side. Preferably, I would like you fully on my side, like Tag, but I understand that that isn't likely. I could force you to be on my side, but that defeats the purpose of having you on my side. Your greatest advantage is your training at the Academy and your knowledge of running a ship, a fleet, and of the different strategies. While I have studied it as well, it isn't at the same level as you have. If controlling you, I could access your memories and knowledge, but in the end it's too much effort for a much too risky move, which also limits my abilities because I have to constantly control you. It also limits your effectiveness. Instead, it'd be better for you to be in control of yourself. I'm not blackmailing you, or threatening you. I'm letting you know that I won't take control of you. However, I'm well aware of where your loyalty lies, and will take measures to safeguard my men, even if it involves kicking you off the ship." He put the knife down and inspected the thin slice of wood that was left. "Understood?"

"Understood."

"Good." He tossed the piece of wood to her. She caught it with ease, looked at it, glanced at him curiously, and pocketed it. He pulled out another block of wood as Caty left. I watched her walk away until she turned a corner and left.

"Admiring the view?"

I began to frantically try and respond, but I found that the panicked string of words wouldn't escape my lips. I couldn't speak.

"Don't worry, mate. I won't tell" he said with a smile before releasing me, allowing me to speak again.

"Good night sir" I said, wanting to leave before he decided to dig through my head.

"You too."


	39. Chapter 39

**-Tag-**

I woke up to the sound of somebody frantically banging on the door of my room. I stumbled out of bed, threw a dirty shirt on, and opened the door to find Toby, one of the clones, being the cause of the ruckuss.

"What do you want?!"

"Slick and Greg are fighting in the cafeteria, and it's bad."

I pushed past him and stormed down the hall, throwing the double doors open as I entered the cafeteria. In the middle I could see a group of clones circled around two who were pummeling each other. I could hear Thorn yelling to cut it out, but most others were cheering. So far nobody has taken notice of me. I grabbed a metal trash bin and slammed it against the doorframe a few times. The loud crashing got everybody's attention as the chanting ended and the audience turned to face me. The fighting did not stop, so I charged forwards, grabbed one trooper, and yanked him away from the other, effectively inserting myself into the middle of the brawl.

"ARE YOU TWO OUT OF YOUR MINDS!?" I roared. "WHAT THE KRIFF ARE YOU THINKING!?"

"He said-"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT HE SAID! YOU'RE BOTH SOLDIERS! HAVE SOME KRIFFING DISCIPLINE! THIS GOES FOR EVERYBODY! I KNOW SOME OF YOU ARE ORIGINALLY 603RD, AND SOME AREN'T, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? THAT DOESN'T MATTER ANYMORE! WE ALL CHOSE TO STAY! WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME SHIP! WE NEED EACH OTHER TO SURVIVE! SO STOP TREATING EACH OTHER LIKE CRAP, STOP JUMPING TO FIGHTS, AND STOP EGGING IT ALL ON! START ACTING LIKE SOLDIERS!"

There was dead silence as my words rang through the whole cafeteria. I left the circle and went to a counter, grabbed a mug, and poured myself a steaming cup of caf. The troopers silently separated, some finding seats, others going into the food lines, and others leaving to perform various tasks around the ship.

As I went to leave to go shave, shower, and change, Thorn caught up to me and said "Cap'n?"

I grunted without stopping, and he started following me out the cafeteria.

"Alright. So, most of the men are starting to lose faith. They're concerned, and there are a few rudimentary plans to leave if certain things aren't fixed."

I stopped and turned, asking "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I share those concerns. I don't share the desire to leave, but I'm concerned. And you're the captain, so you can talk to the General and actually get through to him."

I sighed. "If you talk to Darin, you can accomplish just as much as I can."

"Either way, it means more coming from you. If the troopers see you, the highest ranking officer out of all us troopers, talking to him on behalf of all of us, maybe you can, I don't know, unite the two sides or something. Just you yelling at them won't last forever."

I opened the door to my room and said "I'll think about it."

As soon as I finished showering and got back in my room, I heard another knock on the door. I threw on a clean shirt and opened the door to see Thorn at the door.

"Did you follow me?"

"No. I talked with a few of the new guys, then noticed you came back."

"New guys as in you or as in Joren's men?"

"Joren's. Can I come in?"

I opened the door and walked into the bathroom to shave. I saw in the mirror that he was looking around the room.

"I expected it to be bigger. It's as big as mine is."

"I refuse to use the bigger rooms. I'm no better than you guys."

I turned on the razor and began shaving the few days worth of facial hair off.

Over the buzzing, I heard him say "Right. So they're worried about direction. What are future plans? What are short and long term goals? What are we trying to accomplish? What are we doing? How are we going to fight? How do we get resources? They're looking for leadership, and want to know what the plan is. The promise of being important, having an identity, not being used as expendable cannon fodder, those are all well and good, but what now? We're clone troopers, bred for conflict, trained to kill, and physically augmented to be extremely dangerous individuals. We are bred to fight. And it's been over a month since we've done anything. That's probably why there's a lot more arguing. Just a lot of steam that has to be released."

"You blaming Darin?"

He glanced around nervously and asked "Can you promise not to tell the General I said this?"

"Why? You afraid he'll come after you?"

"A little bit."

"Don't be. He isn't like the other generals. He can handle criticism. Also, just call him Darin."

"I have some concerns with Darin being the 'leader' of us clones, or of being the one in control of our movements."

"And why's that?"

"Don't get me wrong, he's brilliant and extremely powerful, but he just doesn't seem to fit the role of General. He's been completely absent and avoided doing anything to tell us what was going on for over a month. I know that this was a rather difficult time for him, but we got new people, and they need to know what the hierarchy is. We trust him, but the new guys don't. Neither does any of the crew. Any orders have come from you or the Admiral. Also, you remember Noreno? He hatched a plan and then just did it without telling anybody. No help. Nothing. And on Ryloth, he ordered us one way and ran the other way without telling us what the plan was. Thankfully, you were able to come up with our strategy on the fly. Sure, it worked, but he's less of a team player and more of a lone wolf. He says he cares about us all, and I think that that's absolutely true, but I think he cares too much. It's not a bad thing, but he wouldn't ask for any help from us and would instead prefer to do things alone. Eventually, that's going to get him killed. A General doesn't go alone, but leads the team. While I respect his desire to save everyone, I don't think he can make a move to sacrifice a few for a greater gain, which a General has to do. He may work fantastically with a small strike force, or a small team, but not leading all of us. This will hurt our effectiveness for whatever the plan is going to be."

"So you don't think he fits as a General?"

"No. I see him more as a… uh, you ever watched that holoshow with the smuggler and the princess? There's also a wookie?"

"I've heard of it."

"Well, I see him kind of like the smuggler. Wookie is his sidekick, together they're super powerful. The princess is a military leader, and she fights with her troops, and sends them into battle, you know, all that. There's this whole romantic thing with the smuggler and princess but we're ignoring that. Anyways, he's smart and helps with making the plans and figuring out how to accomplish certain goals, and has a lot of authority, but he has his own agenda, and really doesn't have to stick with the plan since the princess rarely actually includes him in them. If she does, it's a joint agreement, or she blackmails him, but again, we'll ignore that since it's part of that whole interaction. This means that he can do his thing and remain the lone wolf, or fight alongside the wookie, without having to actually send troops to die."

I nodded and rubbed my newly shaved skin. "Intriguing. How would that actually work in combat scenarios though? Because in that holoshow they always win because of plot armor."

"Have you ever played Battlefront? Like the original?"

"The game? Yea."

"Well, in galactic conquest, if you capture certain planets, you can start a battle with a Jedi on your side. You can't play as him, but he's in battle. There's just one, and like a bunch of people on each side. Well, the Jedi is controlled by the computer. You know what I mean?"

"Yea. I always hated that planetary bonus. Never listens to commands, just runs around the battlefield to wherever he's most needed…" My voice trailed off as I realized exactly what he was talking about. "You see him as acting more like that? Like a hero who charges in to save the day wherever he's needed most?"

"Exactly."

It was an interesting idea. "So you're saying have him step down as the General and instead be like a smuggler that lets him do whatever he likes?"

"Yes, he'd step down, but he still remains an integral part of leadership. He's like a special agent who is integral to strategic development, who can perform special missions that are really high risk, and who is able to run around the battlefield saving as many people as he can. He'd still be the face of our little splinter group."

I nodded. "You believe that this is the best move?"

"Yes I do."

"Alright. Come on" I said as I put my hand on his shoulder and led him out the door.

* * *

Hand still on Thorn's shoulder, I knocked on a door, which Darin promptly answered.

"What's up?"

"We would like to talk with you."

He opened the door and waved us in. It was a bigger room than ours that, along with the usual bedroom and main room, had its own shower, had a small kitchen with a fridge and such, and a washer and dryer. This was the first time I'd been in his room. While bigger, it wasn't nearly as big as the big suite rooms like the one Fral Joren had.

He took a seat in a chair and motioned for us to sit on the small couch.

"What's up?"

"Well, Thorn here brought up some interesting ideas that I think you should hear."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well let's hear them."

I leaned over to him and said "You might want to be honest. He can tell when you're lying."

Thorn glared at me, beyond furious. "You lied to me."

"Technically, I didn't do that. Now hurry up. You don't want to waste the General's time." I flashed a quick smile at him. This was fun.

"Fine. The clones need direction. Direction you aren't giving because you're sitting around and doing nothing to further whatever the hell our goals are. I also told the Captain that I don't believe that you're cut out to be a General."

The room was silent for a few seconds before Darin's facade broke and he fell into a fit of laughter.

Thorn stared in shock at the two of us. "What's going on?" he cried.

He managed to get a grip on it and said "You should have seen your face" before breaking into another fit of laughter.

"WHAT?" Thorn yelled at him.

After a few more minutes, he was laughed out. Darin sat back and said "It's just funny."

"Why was what I said so funny?"

"Because I was talking to Tag about this yesterday."

"About what?"

"Stepping down. I don't think I fit the role either. I wanted to be the general because Master Joren was. But I kind of hate the role."

"Oh." He looked at me and asked "Why didn't you tell me this?"

"Because it wouldn't have been so funny. I wanted you to freak out."

Darin said "Ideally, I would already have stepped down. I don't want the role. There is just one big problem though. We don't have any other alternatives. Nobody else who would be qualified enough to do the job. We have three people with some degree of higher military training. Three. I'm excluding all of Admiral Cress's people on the bridge because they don't have any real training, I'm excluding Sadie because I never taught her about that stuff, and I'm not going into the quality of our training, which reminds me I need to talk to you" he pointed at me "and the Admiral tonight about that. So three. Admiral Cress, Captain Tag, and myself. I don't want it, so take me out. I talked to Captain Tag and he doesn't want it, so take him out. And Admiral Cress is trained in fleets and ship combat, not ground forces or any of that, so take her out. That leaves us with a grand total of zero options."

"So how would you find a replacement?"

"I have no idea. For now, I'm holding on to the position because somebody has to have it."

"Okay. So what about the direction, plan, and all of that?" Thorn asked.

"Those details are going to be hashed out tonight. You can let the other troopers know about that, hopefully it'll ease their worries to know that they're not floating in space without a cause."


	40. Chapter 40

**-Darin-**

I was flipping through different holoreports on Jodi when the door to the conference room opened and Admiral Cress and Captain Tag walked in.

"Good evening Admiral Cress. My name is Jodi. I don't believe we've met."

Caty gave a surprised yelp and looked around frantically.  
"Caty. This is Jodi." I held up the blue, green, and gold cube. "She's a Jedi holocron."

"What? A holocron?"

"Indeed, I am a holocron. You look lovely today."

"What? How do you even see me?! You don't have eyes!"

"It is true that I cannot see you. I found it in my databases as a phrase to make someone feel more comfortable."

"Well, it isn't working. YOU'RE A TALKING BLOCK!"

"Quit scaring the lady" said another voice.

I sighed and held up a silver, red, and black triangle-base pyramid and said "That was Seth. He's a Sith holocron."

"How do you do?" he said.

"THERE ARE TWO OF THEM!?"

Annoyed, Tag said "You live in a galaxy where there are millions of copies of one guy, people run around throwing things with their mind and swinging laser swords, and THIS is what freaks you out?"

"I wasn't expecting it, okay" she snapped back.

"Don't worry, these are the only two who talk. There are other holocrons, but they aren't used by anybody for some reason. At one point in time somebody tried to destroy them all, so a fail-safe was activated, meaning all information on all of them, even the destroyed ones, came together. All that combined processing power from each one created a sort of AI, one for the Jedi and one for the Sith. They have their own personalities, and an almost infinite wealth of information, but they can be really picky about who accesses it."

"You're lucky I like you" Seth said.

"Anyways, I called you here because we are the ones who are leading this splinter group, and we have a few things to figure out. Do we all agree that our goal is to beat the Alliance?"

Nodding all around. Good. "Do we have any suggestions for-" I stopped when I sensed a familiar presence approach the door. It flew open and Sadie barged in, followed close behind by the med-droid.

"I WON'T SIT AROUND ALL DAY LIKE A CRIPPLE!" she was yelling.

"The tests are not complete! I have not discharged you yet!" the droid yelled back.

"How did you find us?" I asked, still in shock that she was actually here right now.

"The Force. Duh. I'm trying REALLY hard not to break this thing!" she snapped.

"Maybe you should listen to the droid" I said.

"Thank you! Finally a sensible comment from you!" the droid said.

"To hell with the droid! To hell with sitting still! I'M FINE!"

Caty said "Could she stay here while you monitor her?"

"THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH ME! ALL THE TESTS COME BACK PERFECTLY FINE! I'M BEING HELD AGAINST MY WILL!"

"Clearly she is experiencing some psychotic issues. I recommend-" His voice trailed away as Caty pushed a button on him, turning him off, and he slumped on the ground. She then flipped a panel on his head and started fiddling with something. After a few minutes of her messing with something, she closed his head and turned him back on. His eyes flickered, then turned back on and he looked around.

"What did you do?" Tag asked.

"Rewired him a little. Rigidity in regards to protocol was severely decreased."

"Well, that's just rude" the droid said as he stood up. "I am not rigid. In fact, I am very flexible."

"That's… that's not what I meant."

Tag said "So Sadie here is a patient. She is in recovery, and has done really well. Is she allowed to not be cooped up in the room?"

The droid turned to Sadie, scanned her, and shrugged. "Scan found nothing. Fine with me."

"Great. See. I'm good. What are you guys doing?" Sadie asked.

"Figuring out what this splinter group is going to do" Tag said.

"Sweet. I'm in" she said and took a place at the table. The med-droid sat next to her, kicked his feet up on the table, and reclined in the chair.

I glanced at Caty and Tag and asked "Any objections?"

"To her? No. To the droid? Yes" Tag said.

"Oh I come with her" the med-droid said quickly.

"That doesn't make you part of this group" Tag replied.

"I'm head of the medical facility on the ship" it responded.

"Ok. Fine. Fine. What do we call you then?" I asked.

"I am M5-009."

"Ok. M5. Nice to meet you."

"Wish I could say the same" he replied lazily.

"What were you guys talking about?" Sadie asked hastily.

"We were figuring out what our goals would be. We all agree that we're fighting against the Alliance. I was about to ask if anybody had anything to add to that."

"We help the natives of the war-torn worlds" Sadie said without hesitation. "Help those whose lives suck because of the fighting."

"Look, Commander, that's something I'm sure we all want to do. But that's a huge commitment that could leave us vulnerable to attack due to the drain on troops, time, and resources. Do you really think we should be focusing on something like that now?" Tag asked.

"If we don't, we'll be just as bad as the Alliance AND the Order" she said.

I smiled and started typing out the sequence of events that were taking place. I liked how this was going. An idea is brought up, discussed or debated, and then we can vote on it.

"If you provide aid, you'll be able to start building up public support, which could lead to a return on the investment" M5 said. All eyes turned to him. He noticed this and said "What? I'm programmed with a vast array of information on medicine to treat organics as well as psychology and sociology to allow me to provide the best patient care as well as xenobiology, xenoecology, and xenoanthropology to make me effective anywhere in the galaxy as well as economics to allow me to select the best medical care plan in relation to a patient's economic situation as well as statistics to allow me to statistically analyze the results of any study."

"Anything else you can do?" I asked, shocked.

"Sure. But nothing else I'm specifically programmed to do."

"How are you able to store all of that information?"

"I'm a prototype. I am the very first successful attempt at combining traditional circuits and wires and nervous tissue. Fral Joren thought the idea was cool and took me."

Caty said "Anybody have any problems with him becoming a part of this group now? That's a crazy amount of information for one droid."

Nobody had a problem, so M5 officially became a part of our group.

"Do we have any other thoughts on Sadies proposal?" Tag asked. Nobody had any, so I said "Let's vote then. All in favor, raise your hand."

I raised my hand, as well as Sadie.

"All opposed."

Tag and Caty's hands shot up.

"Well kriff. We're tied. M5, where do you stand?"

"I'm in favor of the idea."

"Why didn't you raise your hand then?"

"Wasn't paying attention."

Tag groaned in frustration.

"Great. So one of our main missions will be to help those who have been hurt by the war. Any others?"

A collective no came from the group.

"Got it. Now we need to talk about how we do things. Like an official code of conduct or something."

"Droids and organics get equal treatment" M5 said.

"On that note, all different species have equal treatment" Caty said. I glanced curiously at her and she said "Our ship has some cleaning staff that aren't human."

I nodded, and Tag said "I know it's not a problem for you, General, but just to put it in writing, clones are individuals with their own personalities and as such are treated like all others."

As each part was said, Jodi entered it on a list that we could see being projected over her.

* * *

After the list was compiled and everyone was satisfied with it, I brought up the subject of military training.

"I don't know about Tag or Caty's training, but I know mine certainly was not that great. We understood how things worked, and the basics of strategy, but the biggest thing I was taught was to follow orders from above to a T and to never come up with my own strategies."

Tag and Caty nodded, saying that it was relatively the same for them.

"Now, essentially every single strategy involved having a large amount of resources that could be thrown at the enemy. Is that the same for you guys?"

Again, more nodding from Tag and Caty.

"So that means that we have to make up the strategy as we go along. Not what I wanted to do, but we have no other choice here."

Caty said "I've been coming up with a list of things we need to do to stay afloat. Our absolute first priority needs to be resources. Fuel, food, stuff like that. After that, I'm not totally sure. We aren't strong enough to be able to fight against much. We need ships, troops, and a ton of other stuff to even be able to deal a blow against them."

"With traditional methods" Sadie said. "You're talking about traditional warfare. Nothing about this is traditional."

"How else do you recommend fighting them?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe we try to infiltrate them?" Sadie said.

"We would be slaughtered by them. It would be over before it began."

"Maybe we steal their supplies? Sabotage them?" Tag offered.

"Again, we'd have to get in and out without being caught."

"Maybe we attack and escape so quickly that they don't have time to retaliate. Surprise attacks."

"If we plan and execute efficiently, then we wouldn't let them fight us. Steal some supplies or destroy something significant for them, then escape without getting caught" I said.

Silence for a bit, before Caty said "That COULD work."

"Small strike forces taking out objectives. Solid plan" Tag said. "And what about bigger attacks? Those are sure to come when they figure out what's going on."

"We run. It's all we can do."

M5 said "It's the only plan you've come up with that has any chance of success. I suggest taking it."

"All in favor?" All hands went up. "Alright. So we have a strategy. Now we need a first mission. Caty, what do we need most?"

"Fuel. Malastare is the closest place where we can get some."

"Malastare it is." Jodi noted this down on a new document.

**-0000-**

The next morning, Thorn was surprised to see a large huddle of clones in the middle of the cafeteria. They were huddled around Jodi, and above her were a couple large lists, easily able to be read by him on the other side of the cafeteria. On the top of one it read 'Splinter Goals', and underneath it stated that they were fighting the Alliance, and that they were helping those who were negatively affected by the war between the Order and the Alliance. On top of the middle one it read 'Splinter Code'. So our splinter group was being named, rather uncreatively, Splinter, thought Thorn. Darin must have come up with the name.

He skimmed the code, pleasantly surprised to see it officially put in writing that they were individuals and would be treated as such. The third read 'Splinter Mission', and this was the one Thorn really cared about. Underneath, it stated that they were resorting almost exclusively to hit-and-run tactics, and underneath it explained that it was a style that was not noted in any historical documents, but that theoretically gave them the best chance of winning.

Under that, it said that their primary objective was the acquisition of fuel and other resources. And for mission location, it said Malastare.


	41. Chapter 41

**-Tag-**

Darin, Sadie, and I landed on Malastare without a hitch. We were dropped off on the outskirts of Corbalant in a ghetto section. I was wearing plain peasant clothing similar to what was worn by the poor people on Malastare, Sadie was wearing her orange and dark blue Mandalorian armor, and Darin opted for a modified cloak. By modified I mean it was made with some super strong fiber and was made for stealth and combat. It had a hood which, when pulled down, obscured the upper portion of his face. Between the two of them, I looked like a hostage surrounded by bounty hunters. I would have rather worn my armor, but this planet was under Alliance control. Wearing my bright white clone armor would be suicide.

The plan was rather simple. We do simple reconnaissance, then Caty sends in clones when Darin contacts her, we smash in and grab fuel, and get out before they have a chance to react.

We got a few looks from the residents of this sector, but most seemed to be looks of pity aimed at me. Anywhere that Darin or Sadie looked, people seemed to either freeze in terror or try to avoid eye contact altogether by doing laundry, trying to repair their flimsily built wooden shacks, or skinning some animal for dinner. The whole place seemed tense, ready to explode at any given moment.

After a few kilometers of this, we approached a bridge over a roaring river, and on the other side the road seemed to be paved and the buildings looked much more like some of the ones on Coruscant. There was a guard tower at the edge of the bridge on our side, and a massive gate which kept the people on this side here. At the bottom of the tower was a booth surrounded by glass with a lazy looking guard inside, who operated a button which opened a door to a small cage, then closed the door and opened the one on the other side, allowing the person across.

Without hesitation, Darin walked to the booth, cutting ahead of a rather long line of people. A few wanted to protest at first, but shut their mouths when they got a good look at our little posse. He muscled towards the front and told the guard "Open the door."

"I need to see identification, and you'll need to fill out a form stating your business in East Corbalant. Then you will pay the fee and you will enter.

Darin nodded at Sadie, who went over to the large gate.

"What is she doing?" the guard asked, alarmed.

"She's going to hook up thermal detonators to the gate. Then, we'll blow it sky-high, and all of these people will be free to enter. Or you can open the door, and save everybody the trouble."

Darin put a little Force into the final sentence, and the guard obediently opened the door to let us through.

* * *

East Corbalant was completely different from the ghetto we came from. For starters, we walked directly into a bustling marketplace, booths on all sides with loud vendors selling their wares. There were people moving around, baskets in hand with newly bought produce or equipment. A few of the merchants walked up to Darin and Sadie, offering to sell special armor, some ship parts, or some new blasters or other various weapons. It reminded me a little bit of Coruscant, with all the movement and business going on, but the atmosphere was different. It felt more competitive between the merchants, like they were fighting over the potential customers. They must not have any form of government funding, which is why they're fighting for every credit they can get. It was alluring, and I felt the urge to run around like a child and look at everything around me. I noticed Darin and Sadie seemed to be curious, looking around at almost every single booth, and decided now was the time.

"Darin? We all got our commlinks. Is it cool if we look around? See what they're offering?"

"That sounds like a great idea" Sadie quickly piped up. I could see Darin struggling, both wanting to complete the mission and explore the place.

"If we talk to some of the vendors, maybe we can find some information that would be helpful" I said.

That was the nail in the coffin. "Yea, we can look around. For reconnaissance purposes. Just… stay safe alright?"

"Come on. I saw something here I wanted to check out" Sadie said, grabbing Darin's hand and pulling him into the crowd. I made over to a nearby booth to check out the blaster display when the merchant said "Bugger off." I looked at him curiously, and he said "I don't serve Westerners."

"I'm not a Westerner" I said, angry that I was being sent away without even doing anything wrong.

"Sure. Now get away before I call my guards." He raised a hand and two large hairy beasts appeared behind him. They were the same species as I had encountered on Ryloth, but didn't look to be as well armed. They had no protective gear and looked to be very lightly armed. They hadn't been too hard to take down on Ryloth, but then I was fully armed, had a bunch of clones with me, and we had the element of surprise. I had no clue what they were truly capable of, and now didn't seem like a good time to find out.

"Fine. Fine" I said and walked away. The next few booths had a similar frosty reception, until I reached a booth towards the edge that was manned by, of all things, a Seyley. These were the bane of a clones existence, killing an enormous amount of us in combat. I tried to avoid him when I heard him say "Hey. You. In the gray."

I looked over, and he gave this half-hearted wave for me to come over. I approached rather hesitantly, and he said "We don't get many clones here."

On my guard, I looked around ready for an ambush, and he said "Relax. I don't care." He had his arms folded on the table and lay his head on top of them.

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because I'm old and have bigger problems."

"Then why call me over?"

"You're a military man. I have stuff." He waved his arm at a display behind him and said "My creations. You can come back here and hold them and such. I don't really care."

"What's your name?"

"Vince. You?"

"Tag." I cautiously stepped towards the case, watching him with every step I took to make sure he wasn't going to do anything. When nothing happened, I reached for a ball with a switch and asked "What's this?"

"An EMP. Meant to knock out personal shields for a short time, but not permanently. They will still come back. But it knocks them out no matter how strong they are. Alliance doesn't like it because 'it's not as effective as they'd like'. They want it to be a permanent effect." The tone of his voice made it clear that he thought they were idiots. I put the EMP back and grabbed another ball, this one looking more like a cage with some interesting contraption inside.

"A miniature dead-zone generator. Created it using tech I designed after studying ysalamir. Creates a zone where Force powers are completely negated. Alliance didn't like it because it's really finicky and has no effect on clones."

I put the cage ball back and started looking at what looked to be a briefcase.

"Miniature coaxium refinery. Alliance didn't like it because they make a ton of credits from their coaxium refineries."

As I turned, I noticed something shine behind a cloth that was hanging down by the display.

"You mind if I look there?" I asked.

"Long as I come with you, no."

Behind the curtain was a semi closed off section that contained a lot of parts that looked rather dangerous.

"This is where I put the stuff together."

The shiny thing that caught my eye was a door, which happened to be halfway open, revealing a large facility. I went inside, looked around, and my eyes caught on something that looked amazing. It was a full suit of armor that I had never seen before. The metal was a greenish gray, and looked to be similar to the armor on a tank. It had a large visor where the face was, but not one that could move. Underneath the metal, the mannequin was wearing some sort of black fabric undersuit which looked rather durable.

"Whoa."

"Yep. Whoa's about right."

"What is it?"

"A suit of armor. Some human requested it specially. Wanted to be a one man army. So, I made this."

"What are its features?"

"Shoot, where to begin… well, that metal plating is a specially made combination of Mandalorian iron and Zillo Beast hide, which was then coated with melted Zillo Hide. Stuff is basically indestructible. Weighs over 350 kilos. Then, there's that undersuit. Triple layered. All three are interlaced with strands of Mandalorian iron and soaked with liquid Zillo hide, making them insanely strong while remaining flexible, allowing for an unhindered range of movement. The inner layers are specially made to cool the occupant. Suit increases speed and strength to unbelievable levels. The helmet has a motion detector like the ones the Seyley elite guard do, and the whole suit has shield generators just as strong as theirs. I made some alterations though, making the shields recharge much faster than the guards ones do. It has a dead-zone generator built into it. I already explained what that means. It keeps a stable internal environment, allowing survival in space or other places where you'd usually die. To operate the thing at all, you need Class Three augmentations, albeit with limits to prevent person from tearing themselves apart. Class One augmentations need no limit. But along with the augmentations, you need a neural chip to be implanted since the whole things too heavy to wield normally. That'll allow you to feel the same as you do now with running and jumping and such, but with the suit. It has generators and motors that move the suit with you with pinpoint accuracy as you think of moving. It becomes an extension of the occupant, weighing nothing at that point. The neural chip dramatically increases your reaction time and scrambles your neural waves which makes them extremely difficult to read for Force users, but needs to be surgically inserted."

I stared in awe at the thing in front of me. "You sure it works?"

"Flawlessly. The client tested it a few times and loved it. He left it here so he could get Class One augmentations."

"What happened to him?"

"He died during the augmentation surgery" Vince said matter-of-factly.

"I have Class One."

He glanced at me and said "No. No way. You can't have it."

"How much for it?" I had no idea how I was going to get the money, but whatever. I wanted it. It sounded amazing.

"Credits mean nothing to me at the moment."

"I'll do whatever I need to. Anything."

He rubbed his eyes. "My family was taken by Zygerrians."

"I can get them back."

"Not alone you can't."

"I have backup."

"You can only fit two people in the cargo compartment of their speeder, which is how you'd need to get inside."

"I have powerful allies" I said, thinking of Darin and Sadie, but mostly of Sadie, since she would almost certainly be more okay with this than Darin.

"You would need the suit to even have a shot."

"I swear on my life that if you give me the suit, I will go and find the Zygerrians and free your family."

He eyes me cautiously, then said "Think over it. Tomorrow. Show up here with your 'powerful ally'. Then, you'll get the suit, we'll get you in a speeder, and hopefully you rescue them."

* * *

I ran around trying to find Sadie while ignoring the dirty looks from some of the other merchants. I finally spotted her with Darin. They were walking side by side by the dock towards the large body of water the river flowed into. Very few people were around, and the sun was close to setting. I could hear the laughter as I approached.

"Guys! Guys!" I yelled as I bounded towards them. They turned and I saw that they each were holding some sort of food.

"Tag! You have got to try this. Its Nautaben Ice, and it's delicious. Darin got it for us!" Sadie said.

"I'm glad you two had fun. I found something."

"What?" Darin asked, his interest piqued.

"Some of the locals are being captured by pirates. Tomorrow is the perfect opportunity to get in and free them."

"Tomorrow I was planning on hitting the fuel depot."

"I can't go alone to take them out. I was thinking Sadie and I could go free them, and you'd have all the clones at your disposal."

"I don't know-"

"It'll work" Sadie said. Darin shot a concerned look her way, and she said "Relax. It's just pirates. I can handle it."

"Right. Just pirates." He looked at me.

_If she gets hurt, that's on you._

I was a little jarred by the telepathic message, not for its content but just because I'm not used to them. I nodded, and Sadie, who had walked ahead of us, called "Coming?"

"You go. I'll keep looking for info to help you out" I said to Darin before walking back to the market.

I could understand Darin's worry. He almost lost Sadie once, and he surely wasn't going to let that happen again.


	42. Chapter 42

**-Tag-**

"Didn't you say we needed to rescue some people from pirates?" Sadie asked as I led her towards Vince's tent. It was early morning on Malastare and the daily bustle hadn't started yet. Most of the merchants were setting up their wares for the day and gave us some wary looks as we passed by. Sadie was donned in her Mandalorian armor again. Newly polished, it shone beautifully in the rising sunlight. Her blaster holsters were clearly visible, as was the jetpack and her gauntlets, but I knew that somewhere in the suit she had hidden away her lightsaber and a few other weapons, like explosives.

"We need to talk to somebody first" I replied, eyes peeled for the stand I had met him at yesterday. I found it and rushed over to it, Sadie in tow. Vince was nowhere to be found.

"VINCE! VINCE!" I yelled, listening for a response.

"Who the hell is Vince?"

"Old guy who gave me info. VINCE!"

I heard a rustling from the back, and out staggered the old Seyley.

"Cantcha just let me sleep?" he grumbled as he fumbled with a pair of glasses in an awkward attempt to put them on.

"Tag? You realize that that's a Seyley, right?" Sadie said with an edge to her voice.

"Yea."

"You didn't mention a Seyley."

"And he didn't mention a Mandalorian" Vince said as he sized Sadie up. "I thought you all were scoundrels now, what with Mandalore being all split and such."

Sadie ignored Vince and said "When were you planning on telling us this?"

I shrugged. "So when can we begin?"

Vince grunted. "Eager, eh? Good. Come on back. I'll just take my back pills and we can begin." I started to follow him to the back when Sadie grabbed my wrist.

"What are you doing?"

"Following him. He's friendly. Come on. We gotta save the people." I wrenched my arm free from her grip and went inside.

Inside, I saw that the suit wasn't where it was yesterday. Vince noticed me staring and said "Moved it after you left. Things in the operating room. It's separated into its pieces so you can put it on quickly."

"I'm sorry, what? Suit? Operating room? What's going on here?" Sadie asked, confused.

"Sadie, I'm going to get a new suit, and then we're going to rescue the people."

"Why do you need surgery for that though?"

"Because it weighs over 350 kilos and he needs a neural implant to use it" Vince said helpfully from the next room.

She stared in shock at me.

"Look, I get the suit, then we rescue his family, and it's a deal."

"You said we were rescuing villagers from pirates."

"Pirates?" Vince said before cackling loudly. "You're facing Zygerrians."

Sadie threw her hands up. "Did you tell me anything that was actually true?"

"We were rescuing people?" I said hesitantly. "Are you still in?"

She gave a sigh and said "Fine."

"Fantastic! You ready Vince?" I said as I bolted into the room Vince was in. It was extremely clean and had a single chair with a thick neck brace and multiple straps to keep one's head perfectly still. Various chrome tools gleamed from the table next to it.

"Yea. This'll be easy since you're already bald. Come on big guy. Strap in." He patted the seat, and I eagerly sat down. He started strapping my arms and legs down, as well as my waist to the seat, making sure to tighten them to make movement almost impossible.

"Don't worry about these straps. They're for your own safety. I'm gonna take a bunch of scans to pinpoint the location. The operation takes a few minutes, and you'll be unconscious the whole time. These are to make sure you absolutely do not move. Don't want you to have brain damage."

"Sounds good" I said as my head was strapped in and a mask placed over my face. "Sweet dreams" he said as I dozed off.


	43. Chapter 43

**-Tag-**

"Hey. Wakey wakey, sleepy head."

I opened my eyes and was immediately blinded by the bright light of the operating room. I let out a low groan at the dull pain at the base of my skull. I tried to squint to let my eyes adjust to the harsh light.

After a few minutes, my vision had more or less returned and I was able to take in my surroundings. I was still in the same room as before, but this time I could see a variety of scans on the wall next to me of what looked like the inside of my head. In the sink, I could see blood stained tools and towels.

"I didn't break you, did I? You still alive?"

"Yes, I'm still alive" I grumbled. "Can I get out of these things now?"

"Sure, sure. I'll get you out" he said, and I felt the straps fall away at my arms and legs. When I was fully released, I got up and stumbled forwards a few meters.

"Woah. Slow down there." Vince grabbed me to help me move around but I shoved him back.

"I'm fine."

Vince raised his hands in surrender and said "Whatever you say."

I took a few laps around the room until I was walking normally again.

"What do I put on first?" I asked him.

"The undersuit there. You want some help?"

"I'm fine" I said as I reached for the suit. It was heavier than it looked, but wasn't too bad. It felt incredibly resilient and strong, and I wondered how anything could penetrate it.

When I finally got it on, Vince said "Fits you well. Let's get the rest of this junk on."

He ran me through the checklist of how to put on the various pieces and how they fit together. He helped me with positioning the pieces and locking them in place. The first thing I noticed as I was putting them on was how light it felt. Vince was clearly having a rough time with some of them, but once they were on me they felt like nothing at all.

After Vince's massive struggle to get the main torso pieces together, he handed me the helmet, which I put on, completing the ensemble.

The viser was large, much larger than the one I was used to with my clone armor. The inside lit up, and a bunch of fancy features seemed to appear to the sides of the visual field, not obstructing my view but still being close enough to let me quickly dart my eyes in their direction to check them.

A female voice said "Hello there."

I jumped in surprise. "Who said that?!"

Vince chuckled. "There's an AI in there. Forgot to mention."

"Do forgive him. Vince's mind isn't what it used to be. Now, you must be the new user, as you have the implant."

"Uhh yea. I'm Tag."

"Nice to meet you Tag. I will be your companion AI. You can call me Aly if you'd like."

"Got it. So what do you do?"

"I run maintenance, diagnostics, remind you of your objectives, keep an eye out for you, scan and record information, and so much more. I reside in the suit, but I also reside in that neural implant. It will make suiting up in the future much easier, and you get to have the slight reaction time boost and the watchful eye even without the suit. But right now, I will be getting you acquainted with the suits many features. Are you in an open environment?"

I looked around the cramped operating room. "Not yet."

Vince glanced at me curiously. "Not yet what?"

I was about to ask Aly why he couldn't hear her when she said "I choose when I want to be heard by others. You think I just speak primitively like you all the time? I can access your neural implant. Vince! We need an open space to test this!"

That open space turned out to be the back of his shop. It wasn't what I would really call open, but it was certainly more open than the operating room I was just in. Piled against the back wall were spare parts and unfinished contraptions. To the left, next to a pile of hyperdrive motivators, a large cargo speeder was sitting under a tarp. Sadie lazily followed behind the two of us and took a seat on a crate of goodies.

"We're in an open space now."

"About time. Vince! Grab one of those EMP things you're so proud of."

Grumbling, Vince left through the back door we just entered through.

"You see that bar above your visual field? That is your personal shield bar. The shield gets depleted after taking too much damage due to the generator overheating. You won't feel it due to the design of the undersuit, but it's there. Once it overheats, the shield will disappear until it reaches safe heat levels again. Luckily for you, Vince thought through it and created a rather efficient cooling system. It'll take about seven seconds of not getting shot at for the shields to start returning after being fully depleted. You got all that?"

"Yes ma'am."

The door opened and Vince returned with an EMP.

"Good. Vince, detonate it right next to Tag."

"Wait, WHAT?!" I cried.

"It won't hurt you. I think" she said before Vince pushed a button on the orb and it started flashing. All of a sudden, an alarm started beeping quickly in the helmet and a soft red light lit up the inside of the suit.

"That's a warning that you need to find cover. You can also see the bar above the visual field is empty."

I glanced up and noticed what she meant. Before, it was a thick light blue line. Now it had a light blue border and the inside was black. I waited for a few seconds and true to her word, the alarm and the red light disappeared and the bar started to fill back up with a low hum.

"See? Nothing to worry about. Now Vince! And you. Mandalorian in blue. Yes you! Stand up and start walking around the suit."

I turned to see Sadie stand, a rather confused look on her face, and walk from side to side.

"Quit staring at your girlfriend, paco. See that circle in the corner? Those moving lights? That's them walking around. Its a motion tracker."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"That is completely unimportant. I asked if you saw the motion tracker. Did. You. See. The motion. Tracker?"

"Yes. But still, she's not my gir-"

"You do get that I don't care, right? My goal is to make sure that you don't die because if you die, I die, and that's not something I really don't want to deal with. Hey Mandalorian! Quit pacing like a caged Wookie!"

Looking a bit flustered, Sadie sat back down. Then, rather abruptly, she asked "What about Force users? How does it deal with those?"

Vince said "I used my research on ysalamiri to make it work against Force users. Unlike my full size dead-zone generators though, it's only able to weaken any Force attacks used against it, though by a substantial degree."

"And what about mind stuff?"

"I handle that" Aly quickly chirped. "I scramble his neural signals, making him essentially impossible to control or manipulate using the Force. Why do you ask? You planning on fighting some Jedi?"

"Just curious" she said, though her tone conveyed that there was more. I seemed to be the only person to pick up on that though, so I didn't push.

"Anyways, there are a few other features that this suit is capable of that Vince most likely neglected to mention. Things such as active camo, thrusters, armor lock-"

"What's armor lock?" I asked, and a look of horror appeared on Vince's face.

"Aly, no! Those are prototypes I haven't finished testing yet!" he cried.

"Well, we're testing them now, so-"

"No! I forbid it! Those may not be safe!"

"He's wearing a suit of mass destruction, and now all of a sudden you care about safe?"

"Don't do it Tag. They aren't safe."

"I'm with Vince on this. Aly, maybe now isn't the best time to test them out" I said.

"Fine. I see how it is. I guess safety isn't important."

"No, that's not what I meant. But if it hasn't been tested, how do we know it'll work and not break us?"

For the first time, there was silence. Not a word from Aly. I looked to Vince and said "She's not responding."

"She's fine. Just pouting. Give her some time. Come on, you two. The speeder here is finished. Soon as y'all get in the cargo compartment, I'll call the Zygerrians to pick it up."

"Why do you even have it?" Sadie asked.

"They wanted cheaper repairs than they can get normally from the Kaminoans."

"I thought they only made clones" I said.

"They have Geonoans."

"Geonosians?" Sadie asked. "I thought they went extinct long ago."

"Not Geonosians, kid. GeoNOANS. They uncovered a preserved Geonosian. The DNA was still good so they took it and made a ton of modifications. Its ability to fly was greatly increased and it has a harder exoskeleton. The Kaminoans use them as slave labor, and charge to have them repair or build things for individuals, companies, planets, or governments. Kind of a big economic booster for them."

With that he pulled the tarp off and opened a door, revealing a compartment just big enough to squeeze two people into. "Well, don't be shy. Jump on in."

**-0000-**

Grand Master Sorsee slowly surveyed the wrecked Jedi outpost on Ryloth. He refused to let anybody else see the crime scene before him. He had already seen the security footage.

He'd seen Darin kill the Sith.

He knew that Darin was different. An experiment involving midichlorians that was done by the Alliance. He'd escaped, but not alone. Who his rescuer was was unknown. As he walked around the circular chambers of Maani Kodd, whose corpse was found hanging from the ceiling, he came across a bloody pulp of a mess he knew was there. It was unrecognizable, but it was her. Sylvia, she had called herself. He kneeled down next to it and examined the mess. The head was destroyed completely, and both hands were cut off. He examined the left forearm of the body, but turned up nothing.

He looked around and found a severed hand near the bricks of the fireplace. As he got closer, he found it to be the right hand. Useless to him. He used the Force to feel around the room for the other hand.

There. Behind him. He turned and used the Force to lift up the recliner, then willed the severed hand to come flying to him and snatched it in midair. Not in the least bit sickened by the severed body part in his hand, he turned it around and examined it. Bingo. There he found the tattoo, labeling her as E-1579. Absently, he rubbed his hand, empathizing with the pain she must have felt. The tattoo was brutally put on, he knew that much. Finding the confirmation he needed, he dropped the hand by the body and went over to the wall opposite the fireplace. There, like a sick decoration, hung Fral Joren, split in two.

A twinge of guilt appeared in the pit of his gut. He had known the man a long time, and had much respect for him.

But he failed. Failed in the most spectacular way.

He had made it possible for Darin to join the Order. He had trained him. Darin was weak in the Force, and he never should have been given the training he had been given. And most importantly, Fral had let the young boys mind go wild without any restraint. The boy was different mentally from every other Force user. His mind ran at top speed in ways nobody else's did. He was intelligent, quick, analytical, and creative.

But he was also emotional. His emotions were strong, powerful, and difficult to control, like an avalanche. And they could get the best of him, as the carnage before him clearly showed.

It was no secret that the Order saw him as a joke. He was barely Force sensitive. How could he be treated as an equal? And Fral had let him see it as unfair. Unjust.

This he found humorous. The natural order of things was unjust? The powerful had to rule over the weak.

When the weak ruled, corruption was rampant. That was no way a government should run.

When the weak ruled, they clamored for war, trying their hardest to get more power or to hold onto what little power they had. In the end, the majority of civilians suffered. Unnecessary death. Unnecessary suffering.

It was true that there was a war that had been dragging on for as long as anybody could remember. Anybody except for him and a few others.

As far as historical documents went, the war had dragged on for eternity. But they were falsified, and he knew it. There was a reason that the holocrons were locked away. Information had to be controlled. If it wasn't, the media outlets would run rampantly, spreading fake news as they did before this war. It's what caused the Schism, after all. The news, looking desperately for headlines, decided to make up a ridiculous amount of information. This led to planetary civil wars on a galactic scale. Brutal, horrid war. As total casualties around the galaxy numbered in the hundreds of billions, he made a change. He took over the government, and he led a campaign. It took years, but it worked. Since then, he brought order to half of the galaxy, with him having control of the inner rim. It remained democratic to appease these inner rim planets, with a Senate and elections. But his position was never challenged. Even though the war hurt planets throughout the galaxy, and even though he controlled information to make people forget that the Schism even occurred, he was never challenged. It was an understanding. An understanding that their sacrifice was for the good of more.

Then Darin showed up, questioning the world he had put together. The annoying upstart who couldn't even wield the Force effectively. Fral gave him the promotion to Chief Scholar. Fral had allowed him to sneak out at night and fight in Bebo's Arena. And now, he had Force powers that nobody else could have imagined, and he was in the possession of two holocrons. Two items that couldn't possibly have ALL of the information he didn't want getting out wiped from them. And to make matters worse, the other holocrons weren't responding. It was like he stole the only two that worked.

Sorsee turned again and stared at the dead Sith on the floor. She had had every advantage. Every chance to kill Darin. Every conceivable variable was on her side. Hell, she was more powerful than he was! He could feel the midichlorians in her corpse, and they were definitely more plentiful in her than in Darin.

So how? How did he win? How could he have possibly overcome such odds?

The visions were right. HAD to be. Darin was a threat. An even bigger one than the Alliance. The Alliance was predictable. If Sylvia had won, at least he'd be able to predict her. Slightly control her. Maybe even defeat her.

But Darin won. Impossibly, he won.

That thought gripped him with fear. He heard Darin's voice, promising to destroy what he had built. Those visions never left his mind. Never had he felt as threatened by the Alliance. But Darin… he knew the Order. Knew the system. He had two holocrons. He had newfound power. He had a ship, an Admiral, clones, and maybe his apprentice. Sorsee couldn't feel if she was alive or not.

He doubted that Darin could win. Doubted him immensely. He would die, just as every other attempted rebel. Of that he was certain. But he wouldn't go down without a fight. Something told him that Darin could potentially destabilize the galaxy, driving them back to their civil wars. He could destroy the Order. He could ruin everything.

Or… he could destroy the Alliance.

Calmly, he pulled out a commlink and called his Press Head on Coruscant.

"Hello Grand Master. What can I do for you?"

"I need you to place a warrant on Catherine Cress. To be returned, dead or alive. She was an Admiral for Fral Joren. Crimes include conspiracy, treason, and grand larceny. Starting reward is one hundred thousand credits, and keep adding one hundred thousand every week until she is in custody of the Order or you reach two million credits."

He waited as the Press Head noted this down.

"Then I want you to place a warrant for Darin Kravhenn. To be returned, dead or alive. He is a rogue Jedi. Armed and extremely dangerous. Crimes include killing his Jedi Master, killing every Jedi, clone, and civilian in the Ryloth outpost, stealing government property, mind controlling others to help him, terrorism, treason, conspiracy, and attempted murder of his former padawan. Starting reward of five million credits, and add one million every week until he is in the custody of the Order or it reaches twenty million. Add that as a bonus, any crimes the finders may have committed will be pardoned completely."

He made the Press Head repeat it back to him for accuracy before hanging up and calling his servant.

"Notify the elite hunter Jedi that we have a few bounties to pursue. Catherine Cress and Darin Kravhenn."

With that he hung up. He knew a lot of the crimes were either speculation or plain false but at this point, he didn't care. Darin's destructive potential was much too great. He had to be either killed or reprogrammed. Killing would be much more likely though. Getting a chip into his head would be tough. Either way, he knew that the bounties will attract everybody's attention. They'll have all sorts of bounty hunters and dangerous criminals on their tail. One way or another, Darin's body would appear on his doorstep.


	44. Chapter 44

**-Tag-**

I don't think I've ever been more uncomfortable before in my life. For the entire ride, Sadie and I were wedged together tightly in the tiny cargo hold of the speeder. We were pressed armor-to-armor with almost no wiggle room at all. We were sweaty, hot, and cramped. Sadie said nothing the entire duration of the trip. I suspected that she was upset, and in all fairness I didn't blame her. I had lied a lot to get her in this situation. And now she was spending hours in an incredibly uncomfortable place as we approached a horridly dangerous situation. Zygerrians were known throughout the galaxy for their superior physicality, resilience, and sophisticated methods of entrapment and manipulation. They had built a slave empire and served nobody, aiding the Order and Alliance based on whoever was paying. They could go toe to toe with Seyley and could withstand the strongest Wookiee's devastating punches.

But we were going to give them a run for their money. I had an all new supersuit and Sadie had the Force.

* * *

At long last, the speeder started to slow. I let out a little sigh of relief. Soon, we would be free. We had made it. And the best part was that nobody knew we were here.

The speeder finally came to a halt, and I could faintly hear muffled voices coming from outside. I noticed some blips on my tracker, and waited until they went away before reaching for the handle to leave.

"Stop" Sadie hissed at me right before my hand reached the door.

Obediently, my hand froze in mid air, and I watched as her helmet turned slightly from side to side. Probably using the Force.

"What's the situation?" I asked her.

"Shh" she hissed at me, and I noticed that two dots appeared and started moving about. "Guards. They heard you and are now looking around. Shut up and let me do my thing" she said under her breath, barely audible.

I watched the blips come closer, and with them came the quick snippets of dialogue the guards were sharing.

I felt Sadie tense next to me as they stepped by the door, and we waited. After an agonizingly long time, they left. They decided not to check this one speeder. Lucky us.

Or Sadie had something to do with it.

Whatever the reason, they moved back and disappeared from my tracker. I waited a few minutes before opening the door, grabbing onto the sides, and pulling myself out. I landed on the ground with a loud CLANG as my boots met the metal floor. Unfortunately, that clang was also heard by the guards, one for each of the two hallways leading out who had just been standing still, and had not yet left.

"You're an idiot" Aly remarked, choosing now to finally speak to me.

One of the Zygerrians charged toward us, electric staff in hand, while the other reached for his comm to start calling for backup. He was quickly cut short as the comm cracked right in front of him and a knife embedded itself deep in his skull. Sadie had nimbly hopped out right behind me.

"Right" Aly said, and I turned just in time to see the electric staff about to run through me. Time slowed around me as I got out of the way, grabbed the staff, jerked it out of his hands, kicked him so hard that he went flying against the wall, and threw the staff, hitting him mid-flight and impaling him against the wall.

The world returned to normal and I stared at the twitching Zygerrian, trying to wrap my head around what happened.

"Aly, what was that?"

"Enhanced reflexes."

Of course.

"Nice work. We have only a matter of time till they check in and nobody responds" Sadie said, clearly annoyed with me.

She sprinted ahead of me down one of the halls, and I followed closely behind.

"Do you know where you're going?" I asked through the helmet.

"About to find out."

The hallway opened and we were outside. Shouting and scurried movement was everywhere as a ship was being docked. It was a traditional Zygerrian ship. Its tan and bronze color scheme and pointed design gave that away without question. That meant that they would be distracted and we could stage a successful surprise attack.

But it also meant we were on a time crunch. We had to get the prisoners before they were loaded and jettisoned off into space, never to be seen again.

"You've been found" Aly said.

"What?"

Instead of Aly, I heard some static and then the clear voice of a Zygerrian saying "...guard was stuck on a wall with his own spear. Whoever we're dealing with, they ain't pushovers. Be prepared."

Apparently Aly was sending it through the comm so Sadie could hear as well because she said "Kriff. This'll be interesting."

She suddenly turned and reached a hand out. A Zygerrian who was coming around the corner was thrown against the wall with a thud and fell unconscious, dropping his blaster.

"There! Over there!"

The shouting was accompanied by the thundering footsteps of guards rushing at us and a purple beam pinged right by my foot.

"Snipers. I got em" Sadie said, kicking her jetpack into gear and soaring up. I grabbed the blaster on the ground and Aly said "Time for some fun."

The blaster fire started peppering me, but I barely batted an eye. I charged forwards, firing at them without a care.

"This is poorly thought out" Aly said as I reached the first guard and decked him, sending him flying sky high before aiming at one twelve meters to the right and shooting him in the head a few times. The third was charging at me, so I lowered my shoulder to meet him, cracking his legs from under him and sending him tumbling over me.

"What are you talking ab-"

"THREE TO LEFT, FOUR TO RIGHT!" Aly yelled.

I was rammed from the side, knocking me to one knee, and then from the other side, knocking me fully down.

"You need to watch your motion tracker more" Aly said as I was being pressed down by a pile of Zygerrians.

What a dick.

"You know I heard that, right?"

Shit.

"The suit is strong, but not indestructible. Might be a good idea to get up."

I heard a few blaster shots, and a few of the Zygerrians fell limply on me.

"Get your ass up and do something" Sadie said.

I headbutted the Zygerrian on top of me in the choobies so hard that I heard a distinctive popping sound. Instantly, he doubled over screaming as he clutched at his groin region. I threw him off and with my right hand now free, whipped the gun around and smacked the one holding my left in place, sending him backwards before shooting him and quickly aiming the gun at the squealing Zygerrian who I headbutted. He was curled in the fetal position, completely incapacitated. Nevertheless, I released a shot into his head, cutting the shrieks of pain short.

"Waste of a shot" Aly remarked.

I didn't care. It was a mercy kill. If I'd been him, I'd want the same thing.

The other Zygerrians who were holding my legs down scrambled away in fear.

"Starting to bring prisoners up" Sadie said.

I glanced towards the ship that was coming down and noticed that the chain by the landing platform was starting to grind, bringing something massive up. I grabbed an electric spear and threw it at the chain, using the suits advanced aiming to land it perfectly, halting the chains progression on the gear. I then sprinted towards the chain through the chaos that Sadie and I had managed to cause. I aimed up at where the spear had landed and begun grinding at the gears, releasing a horrible mechanical screeching as it struggled against the long metal rod and shot at the wheel, breaking it. The chain fell off the wheel and started falling down the hole, pulled down by something massive that was screeching as it rubbed against the walls. As I made my way to it, I saw a large shipping container had gotten stuck haphazardly in the shaft, chains laying on top. I used the ladder and quickly made my way down to the container. When I stepped on it, it shrieked horribly and shifted down a few centimeters.

"Aly, how far down is the shaft?"

"Approximately ten meters."

"Is that lethal for anybody inside?"

"How in the hell do you expect me to know?"

I grabbed the edge of the container, sliding my fingers right before it was meeting the wall, sat on the container, and pushed my legs against the shaft. The container shrieked before falling to the ground and landing with a crash that reverberated through the shaft.

I sat up, no worse for wear, and noticed the opening of a small door that stood a meter above the top of the container.

"Ships leaving. I got it" Sadie said over the intercom. Thanks for the heads up, partner.

I ripped the door off its hinges and threw it across the shaft. Inside, the main yellow lights were gone, replaced by the flashing red of the emergency alarms. I walked over the around the middle of the shipping container and punched it, leaving a large fist shaped dent in the steel. Another punch got me right threw. I then grabbed the edge of the hole and pulled with all my might, slowly ripping metal away and making the hole bigger. When it was big enough for the average fully grown organism to go through, I used my hands to try and smooth out the rough steel edges of the platform and peered inside. Approximately one hundred prisoners were inside, all looking rather scrawny and malnourished and all staring at me with gaunt, fearful eyes.

"Congratulations! You're being rescued!" I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

"Oh my god" Sadie said.

"That was pathetic" Aly concurred.

One of the slaves, a Russo, stepped forwards and asked "This is no joke?" in a heavy accent.

"No joke."

"Free?"

"If you come up."

He looked back at the others and waved his hand, saying "Come!" before reaching for my outstretched hand. I hoisted him up, then pointed him towards the door, which he crawled through with zest. One by one, the prisoners were pulled out, until only a little boy remained on the bottom, refusing to budge.

"Come on" I coaxed, but he wouldn't move.

"Hey, so I took the ship down. Engines destroyed. But we may have hit some buildings around the hole so just be careful" Sadie said as I noticed the light from the top of the shaft get blocked out as a massive chunk of cement begin falling towards us.

"Get to the kid and use armor lock. Only way" Aly said.

"What?"

"I'm taking the reins."

As soon as I thought "what", I started moving towards the kid using moves I didn't know I had. As soon as I reached the kid, I bent over him to protect him and stuck my fist into the ground. The shield around my suit started glowing a brilliant white as the massive chunk of debris landed, destroying the steel and sending up a giant cloud of dust in the process.

I was in the same position I was in before when the dust settled. There was a small ring around me free of debris or dust of any kind. The only things in the circle were me and the kid, curled into the fetal position, scared to death but very much alive.

"Releasing armor lock now" Aly said, and my internal systems started flashing like crazy. "It'll take you substantially longer to recharge your shields again. Here. You can have control now."

I heard a familiar sound, and Sadie flew down. "You look like shit" she commented. "Got us a ride out. Where are the passengers?"

I pointed to the door and then the kid. She nodded and said "Let's get moving then. Don't want them regrouping."

**-0000-**

Lord Terrias was pacing around his conference room when Lysis arrived, prompt as always.

"My Lord."

"Major problem. Ster Bureem and the Specs escaped. I'm sure that you're aware of that already."

"Yes my lord." It was not common knowledge. As a matter of fact, Lord Terrias hadn't told a soul, and had kept it under wraps completely. And yet Lysis figured it out. He was impressed yet again with the clever Zabrak.

"Well I found evidence that he was at Mirial."

Lysis stiffened. That was the last place a Spec Ops leader and his team should be looking. That they wanted them looking.

"You are in charge of this. Charybdis, his Junel, the Kiar, the Maleko, use whatever you must. It is all under your control. We need to bring him in."

Lysis nodded and said "Yes my lord."

As he turned and walked off, Lord Terrias said "One more thing." He slid two chips to Lysis, who turned them on. Two Wanted posters appeared, one for Catherine Cress and one for Darin Kravhenn.

"You are in charge of hunting these two down. Bring them to me. They could be potential threats, but they can also prove to be… invaluable."

Lysis stared at the task he had been presented and, after a moment, said "What means am I given to track, capture, and possibly eliminate them?"

"Any means necessary."

"And what should my priority be? These individuals or the Seyley?"

Lord Terrias rubbed his chin before saying "Use your judgement."

Lysis nodded curtly and said "Yes my lord."

Putting his main strategist on hunting duty and not on the war was a ballsy move. But Lord Terrias wasn't worried about the war. Only the Specs and Darin. Especially Darin. So much potential, so much ability.

Such a stupid mistake. Darin shouldn't have ever been used as a guinea pig.

But so be it. What's done is done. A monster was created. A raging fire was born.

No, not born. Fueled. Unleashed.

He rubbed the tattoo on his left wrist.

Fighting fire with fire. That was the plan at first. But maybe if Lysis could weaken him, ruin him, turn him.

Then maybe this headache would end.

Then maybe he could sleep well.

Then maybe his nightmares would disappear.


	45. Chapter 45

**-Darin-**

The hyperfuel refinery was to the far north of Corbalant. A rickety fence and shoddy exterior misled me into thinking it would be poorly guarded. It wasn't. That was clear as soon as I snuck through a window and was almost caught by a patrolling guard of a species I didn't remember facing before.

After ducking down, I stayed put, hidden from view in the shadows, measuring the timing of the guard movements and reviewing the schematics of the facility with Seth. While doing so, I got a better look at the guards.

They were massive. Larger than Wookies and Seyley by almost half a meter. They were covered in short, bristly hair, possessed beady front facing eyes, and had a powerful looking snout with sharp fangs inside. They wore armor consisting of metal plates that were painted yellow and had the insignia of the company that owned the refinery. Stanco Industries. A quick search through Seth's database found no results for a species matching them. Stanco was also equally absent. Strange.

With no effort, I switched to Force vision. The world turned to gray, and I used the Force to analyze the room. It was a large room, with some stairs leading up to a small balcony style level only about three meters above the floor. Under the balcony, the control room for the coaxium reserves were located. A few industrial lights were hanging from the ceiling on sturdy chains. Four exits, six windows. Fifty seven guards, with over two hundred reinforcements possible. Room was soundproof, and the only sounds that could be heard were the electric hum of the lights, the constant thumping of heavy bodies on a metal floor, and my own beating heart. An alarm system was set up, but M5 already had that handled. The coaxium was stored in the two doors by the stairs on opposite walls, and the main doors were located on the door opposite of the control room. On the balcony, there were three doors, all of which led to separate buildings where the other guards were. They were all well trained and armed to the teeth with various weapons. Stanco really didn't want to lose this stuff, and I could understand why. It was highly valuable and would go for millions if not billions on the black market. Losing this would lose them a huge amount of profit.

Too bad. Admiral Cress was in the skies, jamming radio signals to other possible locations. Thorn was three thousand meters in the air with multiple ships, each possessing a garrison of troops. On my signal, they were to be flown down one at a time, the troops would jump out, load the coaxium, and fly away. Thorn was in charge of making sure the timing was precise after I gave the signal that it was clear. They had to swoop down in an orderly fashion. All at once would be a mess.

It was a good plan. One that we believed could be pulled off without a hitch. The hardest part fell on me. I had to secure the zone silently and without alerting anyone. While the signal was being jammed, it was only long range. Short range to the other two hundred guards would not be stopped.

I grimaced. The pain was returning. I felt the Force in me flex uncomfortably, sending ripples of pain throughout my body. It was like my body was fighting itself, and in the process it was tearing itself apart. I couldn't use the Force to fix it because the Force was the problem. It was causing this struggle.

"Might I recommend a stealthy approach?" Seth said.

"That's the plan."

"I mean, one where you use fear as an ally."

"Don't start with me on-"

"The Force is imbalanced in you. You fight so hard to keep the darkness down, but it's a part of your nature. A part of who you are. You must accept that."

"I can fight through it."

"As you become stronger, the struggle will only escalate."

"So be it."

"You're feeling the pain of it. Of the struggle."

Was that what it was? Was that what these episodes of pain were caused by?

Seth said "From a tactical standpoint, you can harness that fear and use it to become stronger. Then you will have an easier time dealing with them quietly, or if by some chance you slip, you can have an easier time taking on many many more."

As much as I hated to admit it, he had a point.

No. Giving in is not the Jedi way.

I'm not a Jedi.

But I'm a good person.

Am I? Am I really?

I do what I think is right even when nobody else agrees. That's what counts. And the best thing here is getting the coaxium. This gives me the best chance. And giving in once doesn't mean I'm just seduced to the dark side. I can control it.

I reach for the commlink and whisper "M5, lock all of the doors."

**-0000-**

The chief guard was patrolling casually, as usual, when all of a sudden, a light bulb popped. Then another. And another. Before he knew it, all of the main lights were out.

"Hey boss. What happened?" one of his Junel asked.

"Must be a power surge or somethin'. Quit yer worryin'," he responded. "Flashlights on, men."

Fifty-seven beams of light were turned on within the next minute and scoured the inside of the facility.

That's when the chief noticed something strange. He could faintly hear the sound of pressurized gas leaving a container. Ever so slowly, the room was beginning to fill with a strange fog. Alarm began to fill him.

"Ey boss. This stuffs breathable!" one of the Junel said.

"Are you sure?" the chief asked, not quite ready to believe him.

"Yea. It's not dangerous in any way. Gurhyshoots. Childrens smoke bombs."

"How do you know?"

"Used to make em when I worked on one of Stanco's other plants. Didn't think they'd have any here."

Something was happening. He could sense it. "On your guard men. I don't think we're alone."

As if on cue, something scrambled across the metal floor. His beam of light darted to the source of the noise, but it was gone, disappearing into the thick smoke. He tried sniffing the air to catch the scent of whatever was out there, but he could only smell gurhyshoots.

He heard a Junel shriek somewhere behind him, which was accompanied by a loud "Oh shit!" He turned and saw… nothing. The smoke was much too thick by now.

"What just happened?!" he yelled.

"Terrell was right behind me, then something swooped in and carried him up!"

I scanned the ceiling with the light. Nothing.

Wait, there was a shape falling to the ground.

It slammed into the ground, and I saw that it was Terrell. He had brutal slashes on his abdomen and his limbs were mangled, like they'd gone through a woodchipper. His face was frozen into a look of sheer terror.

"What the hell could do that!" one of the Junel asked.

"Call for backup. We need reinforcements!" yelled the chief.

As a few of the Junel scrambled, reaching for their comms, they realized something. All the comms were missing. Gone. None even realized that it had happened.

Right above the loose group of Junel, little bits of plastic, metal, and wires started to rain down. The chief picked up a large piece and inspected it. As he predicted, it was the comm, broken beyond belief. Unusable and unsalvageable. He realized that he was sweating from fear.

"Everyone! To the exits!" the chief yelled, and a mad scramble for the doors ensued. Locked. All of them. They started banging on the doors when a body fell onto them. The chief stared at yet another dead Junel. On his abdomen, carved into the flesh with a knife, were the words "Don't try. Soundproof".

A thump to the left revealed another Junel. Carved into his abdomen were the words "One by one".

His heart was beating like a jackhammer by now. What kind of sadistic kriff were they dealing with?

"On your guard! Stay together!" he yelled at the Junel, and they formed a defensive circle. Everyone was watching everywhere.

That's when he saw it. A blackish gray blur too fast to distinguish dropped down, snatched a Junel, and shot right back up. He shot his plasma rifle in its general direction, but nothing seemed to hit. Something came careening down before being caught and dangling from the ceiling. It was the Junel, hanging from a chain around its neck.

"Oh man" one of the Junel said. "I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, I don't wanna d-"

The voice was cut off by a sick crunching noise. The body fell to the ground as if it had been angrily tossed to the ground, and the head rolled towards the chiefs feet. He saw a clearly deformed skull, as if a giant had grabbed hold and squeezed too hard. It reminded him of when he used to play with clay as a boy, shaping and molding it. But that wasn't possible. Junel bones were much too strong to be broken in that way.

He noticed the blur drop down again, but this time it moved horizontally on the ground, a glowing black blade appearing and slicing five Junel in half before they could even react before disappearing again.

He felt the cold hand of fear grip his heart and settle in his bones. A Sith. A kriffing Sith. The Alliance had turned on them. For one reason or another, they had turned and sent one of their monsters after them.

"Why did they send you!" he yelled into the smoke.

A laugh reverberated through the room, a cruel, hollow, dissociated voice that sounded like nails scratching on a chalkboard, like the voice of an ancient evil that had risen from the earth after eons of silence and was speaking for the first time. It was haunting, terrifying, disturbing. He couldn't help but grimace.

Somehow, he managed to not wet myself and asked "Did Charybdis send you? Or Lysis?"

A brief pause, and two Junel were seemingly grabbed from the smoke and yanked away from the circle. He waited, and the bodies dropped to the ground. On their abdomens were the words "Strike one" and "strike two".

"Quit guessing, boss!" one of the Junel yelled at me.

The cold voice rang out "Twelve down. Forty five to go."

"COME OUT AND FIGHT, COWARD!" one of the Junel roared.

The cold laughing filled the room and the black blade lit up towards the ceiling and was thrown at our group slicing through seven more Junel before starting to return to where it came from.

"Shoot at that light!" he yelled, and a barrage of red plasma bolts came at the spot where the saber stopped and was deactivated. Clearly, multiple shots hit right where it was caught, but nothing fell.

"Me, a coward?" the voice rumbled, before a tendril of black… something… shot out of the smoke and impaled six Junel. "You are the ones engulfed in fear." Three Junel were grabbed from the top and bottom and ripped in half. "Drowning in fear." Four Junel dropped to the ground, grabbing at their ears, before their chest exploded and they fell limply. "CONSUMED by fear." Eight of the Junel burst into purple flames and within minutes, all that was left of them was a greasy spot on the floor and charred yellow armor plating.

The blackish gray blur dropped to the ground and stood there. Nobody fired at him. He tried to raise his gun, but found that he couldn't. He was petrified. The blade activated and began zooming by, slicing Junel left and right while the blur walked slowly towards him. As it got closer, he began to be able to make out some of its details. The Sith was wearing a blackish gray cloak and had the hood pulled up, covering the upper portion of his face. It was a beautiful and terrifying cloak. As he got closer, he realized that cloak may actually be the wrong word. It was more like a robe, in that it possessed sleeves, could be fastened together in the front, and wasn't meant to look like a flowing cape. Instead, it gave his whole form a sinister appearance. It could look like a cloak when standing, but as he moved it followed with him, creating less drag and allowing him to move more freely.

Something zipped under his chin, and he became fully aware of the humming blade that was now against his neck. He watched as the form walked ever closer to him until finally, they were standing by each other. The Sith was a bit shorter than the chief, but that was understandable as his species was one of the more formidable ones. He stood there, staring, before reaching his hand out and grabbing the saber, deactivating it and placing it at his hilt before turning back to the chief.

He raised his hand to the chiefs head. He gasped as the life was drained from him. The Sith put his hand down and the chiefs body fell to the ground, lifeless.

**-Darin-**

When the last one died, I dropped to the ground and threw up.

What the hell did I just do?

It all felt… wrong. It made me uncomfortable.

But in the moment, I felt incredible. Never had I felt more alive. More powerful.

But now, I felt dirty. Sick.

Seth said "It's always this difficult the first time. But it gets easier, I promise you."

"What did you do to me?"

Seth chuckled. "Nothing. I didn't do anything to you. That darkness was inside of you. That monster was waiting to be unleashed."

"No. You're wrong."

Seth said "Do you feel the waves of pain you would feel before?"

I shuddered as I realized that he was right. While I felt like a monster, the pain was gone.

"How?" I mumbled.

"You temporarily balanced the Force in you."

"No. No no no. I never want to do that again."

"Then the pain will return, and you will tear yourself apart."

"You're just trying to turn me" I said.

"No. I am a Sith holocron, that is true. But the nature of the Sith is selfishness. So I help you achieve your selfish desires."

"I don't want to be a monster" I spat at him.

"But you want to survive. Your condition makes this imbalance of the Force in you particularly lethal. It's why I won't ever turn you. If you stay on the light side, the dark will destroy you. If you become dark, the light will destroy you. It's the nature of the universe."

I sat down, shocked. "Then what do I have to do?"

"Embrace both sides of the Force. Use both sides at once, never succumbing fully to either one. Instead of light or dark, you must be a mix. A combination."  
"How do I do that?"

"Honestly, I do not know. It isn't in my database. But you must find ways to combine both aspects of the Force. You will only survive if you can truly master all of the Force."

I sat for a moment before reaching for a table and lifting myself up. My mouth tasted like vomit. I activated my commlink and said "Rapid response team is a go."

I weakly made my way to the door. What Seth said made sense. I had to master all aspects.

I don't know how I'll do it, but I'll find a way.


	46. Chapter 46

**-0000-**

"... Nearby villagers alerted the authorities when they noticed the power go out. What they found upon arrival was rather gruesome. All the employees were dead. An official statement from the owner of the company has been issued, blaming the event on a generator meltdown, which led to a unique type of explosion inside the building. Some families have turned and blamed the company and its failure to renovate the building. We have an expert in the field of provincial entigenerators on the air to speak about how the combination of outdated tech and nonexistent safety procedures would lead to a catastrophe like this. Dr. Balan Bauer, you're on the air." The screen switched to a stuffy looking Zabrak in a purple suit. "Thank you for having me on the air tonight. I will start by first explaining the generator used at this hyperfuel refinery in easily understood terms. You see, the model they used was an XERO 67483, and this one is known for hav-"

Sadie muted the holovision when she heard the door open loudly to the ship they were in. It was a cargo ship, one of the few that they brought down to the surface of Corbalant that acted now as a kind of 'mobile home' for her, Tag, Darin, Thorn, and a few other clones. Tag walked in and threw the helmet on the recliner before parking himself in a spot next to Sadie on the loveseat. He gave her a half-hearted grunt.

"I don't speak Wookiee" she snipped.

"How long are you gonna be like this?" he snapped back. Ever since they returned after rescuing those slaves, the friendliness they shared before was gone and replaced with this tense air.

"You lied. You lied to us. You realize that, right?"

He sighed. "Fine. Fine. But we survived, didn't we?"

"I was kind of a big part of that" Aly chirped up.

"Tag, control your partner" Sadie said.

Suddenly, she tensed up slightly.

"Oh boy" she said before quickly jumping up and going to the door. The door was a simple hatch that led outside. She stood there for a few seconds before hearing a knock at the door. She opened it and revealed Vince standing outside.

"How did it go? Did you get them?" He asked hurriedly.

"How did you find us?" Sadie asked sharply.

"I got a message telling me to come to this location."

Sadie turned and looked at Tag. "Did you do that?"

"Yea. That was the deal. I get the suit, he gets his family."

She threw her hands up in frustration. "Why would you give away our location?!"

"I trust him."

"Well nobody else here knows him! He could be with the Alliance!"

Vince said "I can assure you that I'm not with the Alliance."

"And I'm supposed to just believe you?"

Vince shook his head. "No, I wouldn't expect that you would. But I will do what I can to earn your trust. The Alliance killed my boy recently, and almost got the rest of my family."

"I thought the Zygerrians captured your family" Sadie interjected.

"The Alliance has been paying them to capture Seyley and force them into lives of slavery."

"Why?" Tag asked.

"I don't know. Shortly after my son died, they started paying the Zygerrians to capture my people."

Sadie lowered her head. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Vince nodded, staring blankly as he tried to fight back the tears. "Yea, me too."

Sadie closed her eyes for a moment, then said "Your family is safe. They aren't being held by the Zygerrians. But we aren't letting them go free just yet because we want to make sure that the Zygerrians don't come back."

"Thank you. May I see them?"

Sadie nodded and led Vince to one of the doors on the other side of the makeshift main room, with Tag following closely behind. She opened it, leading to a large cargo hold. Inside were some clones standing guard, and towards the middle about one hundred people milled about. Some people were playing cards at a makeshift table, some were chatting with each other, some were napping, and some were roaming aimlessly about.

One of the clones nodded at the trio and stepped back.

"Daddy!" a little girl's voice cried, and a small Seyley ran out of the flock to him. He surged forwards and scooped her up in his arms, giving her a big hug. Another Seyley ran out of the crowd and threw her arms around him.

**-Sadie-**

I watched the family reunion for a little before walking out of there, tears stinging my eyes. It reminded me too much of what I didn't have. What I lost.

As I composed myself, the door opened behind me and the clone who nodded at me came out helmet off. It was Q.

"You okay?" he asked, looking slightly concerned.

"Yea yea. I'm fine" I responded quickly.

"Commander-"

"Please. Call me Sadie. I'm not a commander."

"Sadie, you aren't alone, you know. You do have a family."

I stared at him, shocked that he could tell what was affecting me. "What do you mean?"

"You have us. You have the General. We may not all be blood, but we are a family. We care and protect our own. That's how us clones are. And I can assure you that we see you the same way. Every one of the clones sees you as family. As one of us."

I knew he was trying to cheer me up. I smiled slightly."Thanks, Q. Thanks for that."

"No problem." He went to walk away before stopping and saying "Can I be completely honest with you?"

"Uhm, sure."

He shifted slightly from foot to foot before saying "This thing that you and the General are doing, with us, I… I believe in it. I was born and raised in a lab. From my first days, I was always aware that I would live and die for the Order. That my life WAS the Order. I never had a choice in that. I was never satisfied with that, but I always knew that there was no escaping it." He looked a little at his feet, collecting his thoughts, before looking at me and saying "I had resigned myself to a death on a battlefield on some planet, casually thrown at an enemy force like a weapon. Knowing that my life was worth nothing. I just… I want to thank you. I've wanted to thank you and the General for a while. Without you two, I'd be dead on some foreign planet. Another number amidst hundreds of thousands of others. But you gave me a name. An identity. For the first time, I could actually be a person. Not just a weapon. Not just a tool. You allowed me to be someone instead of something. And even though we're cooped up in an old ship, have no support, and are forced to scrounge for resources, I've never felt more happy. You gave me a life. I just wanted to let you know that." With that, he left the room.

I stood there, stunned. I had no idea how to react. How to respond. I didn't feel like I deserved his thanks. I wasn't a hero. I didn't do anything. Darin was the one who did most of this. Sure, I trained with them, laughed with them, joked with them, goofed around with them, and became friends with a lot of them, but I never felt like I really did anything for them. I was just… me.

I walked over and sat down on the loveseat, pulling out the little chip and plugging it into one of my gauntlets. The picture of my parents came up. My mom, my dad, and me. I smiled at it. Q was right. While they could never replace my blood family, they still gave me a type of family. They came to see me when I got better. They were concerned about me and they cared about me. But they were also friends. They made fun of me, teased me, and played pranks on me. But it wasn't like it was at school. It didn't feel malicious. It felt… friendly. Fun. I smiled to myself.

A pulse through the Force brought me back to the world. I reached out through the Force and felt Darin's presence.

_You made a real mess, you know_ I said to him.

_You heard?_

_It's all over the news. They're blaming it on a generator meltdown or something. _

_Oops._

I sighed. _Did you at least get the hyperfuel?_

_You'll just have to wait and see._

I rolled my eyes. _We've got a surprise for you._

_Ooo. What is it?_

_You'll have to wait and see._ I said, enjoying the slight spark of annoyance that I felt emanate from him. _How far out are you?_

_About 40 clicks._

_Great. See you soon. _

I stood up, stretched, and walked outside. The cool breeze hit my face and I listened to the sounds of the nighttime wildlife. The chirping and chattering of so many different species provided a stark contrast from what life on Coruscant was like. I never once thought that so much life could exist in such a small space. That it could permeate every nook and cranny of this region of the planet. Of course, I have heard about it. I took biology courses that were required of me in school. I knew that there were many different forms of life and they were basically everywhere. But knowing didn't come close to the experience. Actually experiencing it, being amidst the natural world, surrounded by it, was like nothing I could ever imagine. I switched to sensing with the Force, a switch that felt natural by now, and found that I could feel the world. Not just hear it, see it, smell, it, or touch it. Darin had told me that the Force was in all life, and I realized what he meant. Everything around me, every plant, every insect, every animal, everything had a Force signature. It was incredible. I could sense it, flowing through the world around me. I reached out, trying to sense the Force of the individual organisms. I could feel a small lizard, scurrying through the grass and looking for food. Baby birds, sleeping away in a basket made of sticks in a tree. A spider, which was shielding an amphibian under its body, and I could sense a very rudimentary bond between the two unlikely organisms. The plants, I found, were able to sense the world as well. To feel it. They didn't process anything, but I could feel them reacting. Feeling pain when an insect ate the leaves. I realized that the universe was more alive than I had ever imagined.

I heard the sound of a ship approaching, and my heart started beating faster.

Darin was almost here.

I watched as the ship flew towards me. I knew the plan. Most of the ships take the hyperfuel to the _Everbright_, and Darin brings M5 back here so that the droid could assess the rescued prisoners for any injuries and Darin could insta-heal them. Slowly, the ship began to descend. It was a small ship meant to transport people, and that was it. It looked surprisingly expensive. I tried to determine what kind of ship it was, but couldn't.

After landing, a door opened up behind it and M5 walked out and casually strolled to my side. I wasn't sure how to treat M5. He was a droid, sure, but the organic portion of it allowed it to be so humanoid it almost scared me. The line between organic and metallic blurred with him.

"How'd it go?" I asked.

The droid shrugged and said "We have the fuel. Most of it is unrefined though. It'll need to be refined if it's going to be used."

I nodded. "Where's Darin?"

"In the ship. Idiot wants to keep it. Says it could be useful. He's finding any tracking beacons and disabling them."

"Did you guys steal it?"

"No. I found it. Piloted it to get him out of there. Rigged the place to self-destruct when he left to get rid of any evidence."

"YOU caused all of that damage?"

"Now there, you can't be making wild accusations without any proof. That's not the Jedi way."

"Yea, and droids don't steal ships and blow up buildings. Against their programming."

M5 turned to me and said "Splinter IS made up of some extraordinary individuals."

"Go medically assess the prisoners we rescued."

"I'm sure that they're all just peachy."

"Please?"

M5 let out a mechanical whirring, as if he was sighing, and said "Fine."

I watched him walk off towards the ship before turning back to the small ship. After a few moments, I got frustrated and ventured towards the door. I peeked my head in, and was hit first and foremost by the cleanliness of the place. The walls shone and the floors had a nice carpet on them. I walked inside and found a nice setup with a soft velvet booth around a pristine glass table whose edges were lined with gold. I found a mini-fridge near the table, and opened it to find all sorts of exotic foods and beverages. I saw some sleek doors down another small hall that probably led to a sleeping chambers. The other way was the cockpit. I heard some movement coming from the side with the sleeping chambers, and decided to go that way. I opened a door and found an exquisite bedroom with the same carpet on the ground, a huge comfy bed, and a few wardrobes. A door to the side led to a private bathroom. On the bed I could see Darin's dark gray cloak strewn about and his black shirt thrown to the side. A missing ceiling panel told me where he was.

I called his name, and his grease speckled face popped out of the hole.

"How's it going?" He asked.

"What are you doing?"

"Disabling the tracking beacons and compiling a list of modifications to make to this."

"Is the tracker disabled?"

"Yep."

"Then can you please get down from there? We have people that might be hurt."

"Just a sec. Just want to examine some more of the ship for more modifications I can make."

"You can do that on the _Everbright_. Just… come down. Okay?"

"Okay. Okay. Just gimme a sec." His head retracted into the hole before I saw Seth and a few tools float down from the hole and onto the bed. A second later, he jumped to the ground. He smiled at me before turning around and using the Force to move the ceiling panel back in place. I examined him, noting the scars on his lithe-yet-muscular figure, all of which was covered with dirt and grease.

"You need to shower" I commented.

He looked down at himself and said "Yea, something was leaking grease so it was everywhere."

I pointed at the bathroom. "Shower. After that, come find me."

* * *

I was sitting on the loveseat in the cargo ship when the door opened and I saw Darin walk in, cloak hanging over his shoulder and hair wet and messy.

"Took you long enough" I said with a smile.

"Uh huh. Where are the prisoners?"

"This way." I stood up an walked over to the cargo door behind which the prisoners were. Before letting him through, I stopped him and said "Don't freak out, but there are quite a few Seyley in there."

He tensed. "Sadie, you realize how dangerous they are, right? How dangerous bringing them here is?"

"I do, but they were among the prisoners. A Seyley asked us to save his family."

"Did you once think that this was a trap?"

"He didn't lie to us. The Seyley that asked for help wasn't lying. I checked. He's here."

He tried to walk in, but I stepped in his way. "You need to promise not to do anything. Not to them, not to Tag, nobody."

"Tag? What did Tag do?"

"Do you promise?"

He sighed. "Fine. I promise."

I nodded and opened the door letting him walk through before walking in afterwards. Q smiled and nodded my way, and I gave him a smile back.

"This is a lot of Seyley" Darin mumbled.

"Look who just decided to waltz in" M5 snapped from a group of people. "I've already separated the people into those injured and those healthy. Get over here and do your job."

Darin walked over to the injured people and quickly healed them up. I looked around the room and found Vince sitting to the side with his family. I went over to them and asked "Are you guys okay?"

"Yes. Thank you" the female Seyley, who appeared to be his wife, said.

Vince asked "Can I talk to you? In private?"

I was surprised for a moment, then said "Sure." I walked over to a corner and asked "What's up?"

"I don't think it's safe for my family to stay here."

"Why not?" I asked, confused by the statement.

"There's only one suit in the galaxy like the one Tag has. I'm the only one who could make it. They're going to be able to put two and two together and realize that I helped break them out. Then they're going to come and kill me and my family."

Oh. I should not be the one he comes to for this. I'm not the person who should be making these decisions. Not sure exactly what to say I said "How were you thinking we could help?"

"I was hoping you could help us maybe go to another planet or something. Somewhere that we could get lost in the crowd or something and it would take a while to find us. I know its a big ask, but I just want them to be safe. I can pay you. Or build some things for you. Make weapons and the like."

I could sense the desperation. It made sense they would know he helped. I wanted to help. I really did. I said "Here. Lets go talk to the guy in charge."

I led him over to the injured group, where Darin was leaning down and mending a little boys broken bone. After a few seconds, it healed completely. All the scrapes on the kid vanished and the kid walked off, perfectly healthy.

"Oh kriff. A Jedi?" he asked me.

"Not really" I said. Darin noticed us standing by and motioned for us to hold on. He had a few more people to fix. One by one, he came to them, and one by one, they were able to leave. When he was finally done, he walked over to us.

I said "Darin, meet Vince. Vince, Darin." They shook hands.

I then said "Darin, Vince is the guy who asked us to help."

I sensed a change in Darin, but I couldn't notice one outwardly.

Vince said "I'm extremely grateful that you helped me out."

"You should thank Sadie for that."

"Vince needs help. The Zygerrians will know that he helped break out the prisoners and they'll come for him."

Now his face changed visibly. "Zygerrians? I thought they were pirates."

Sensing the hostility being directed at the old Seyley, I said "Tag told us they were pirates. Vince never once said that."

The hostility lessened, but remained there. "How would they know you helped?"

"Because of the suit that he made that Tag now owns. He made it."

"The suit?" Darin asked, confused.

I pointed to a corner, and Darin turned to see Tag, in the large suit, standing guard. He turned back to the two of us and asked "What are you asking?"

"He's wondering if-"

"No" Darin said, cutting me off. "You tell me Vince."

Vince said "I was hoping that I could maybe hitch a ride to another planet or something. I could move my family somewhere safer. You guys have already done more than enough. I could pay you. I don't have many credits, but I'll give you what I have. I can make weapons, do chores, anything. I just want my family safe."

Darin thought for a moment before nodding. "Okay. Okay. We can give you that."

A huge grin appeared on Vince's face and I could feel the relief wash over him. "Thank you so much, Sir."

"Please. Call me Darin. We were going to leave tomorrow morning. We're going to get your stuff tonight. I'll come with you to help. Get ready, I'll be there soon. Just need to talk with Sadie."

Vince nodded and practically ran over to his family. Darin motioned Q over and said "Let the others go. The coast should be clear for them."

Q said "Will do" before dashing off. Darin walked me over to behind a few crates before stopping. It was a very secluded place, safe from prying eyes and ears. It was also small, so we were forced to stand rather close. I didn't mind that.

In a harsh whisper, he said "Why didn't you tell me about the Zygerrians?"

"I didn't want to worry you. I was fine."

He internalized it for a few seconds before asking "Are you okay?"

I could barely suppress the happy smile when he asked that. "Yea. Yea I am."

"Good. I just… I worry."

"I know."

We stood there for a little. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but couldn't say it. Couldn't do it.

After a little while of us standing like that, he said "I should go help Vince."

"Yea. Yea. Go ahead" I said, partially disappointed that we couldn't stand close together like that for a little longer. He smiled and walked off.

My feelings were getting way too strong. I should not feel like this about him. He's a friend. That's it. A friend.


	47. Chapter 47

**-Than-**

I found Ster by one of the rear guns, away from the rest of the Specs. He noticed me approach and nodded at me tiredly. I stood by him for a while and watched as space flew by outside.

Finally, I said "Why did you come for me?"

He gave a slight laugh, a tired, half-hearted sound, before saying "I needed to know."

"It was suicide."

"So was staying with the Alliance."

I looked at him curiously, confused as to what he meant.

He noticed the look and said "They claimed you were a traitor. But then I watched them gun down Seyley in cold blood. I made an executive decision."

I nodded and we sat in silence for a few minutes. Finally, I said "And if I was a traitor?"

"I would have brought you in to the Alliance myself. Or killed you."

I expected nothing less. I noticed him stifle a yawn, and asked "When did you sleep last?"

He shrugged.

"I can man the gun. Go rest."

"I'm fine. I don't need sleep."

"If we get in a fight, you'll need to be in top shape, not exhausted and barely standing. I'll cover it for a bit."

He wanted to argue with me, but gave up and walked off. I settled down and stared out into the vastness of space.

* * *

About an hour into me being lookout, I heard light footsteps start to approach behind me. Bree walked over quietly and took a seat next to me. We stared out into space for a few minutes before I looked at her. The confidence she seemed to so easily flaunt when I first met her was gone. In its place was fear. For the first time, it hit me that she really was a kid. She was an innocent child that didn't deserve to have her world ripped away from her.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" I asked her softly.

She looked at me before quickly looking back. "I see them. In my dreams. My family."

I nodded and said "I understand."

"I just can't shake that feeling. When I reached out, and I couldn't feel them anymore. They all felt empty. Lifeless. It was horrible."

A little confused, I asked "What do you mean by empty?"

"You know. They were full of life. Like when I found you on the rocks. You looked really dead, but I could feel that you were barely alive. It's that thing in everybody. You can connect with it. Feel it. But they're gone, and now I can't connect with them anymore. I just feel… alone."

I stared at her curiously. She noticed this and said "What?"

"You can… feel life?"

"You can't?"

"No. No I can't."

"Oh." Her face fell and she said "I'm sorry. I thought everyone could do that."

Curious, I asked "What can you feel?"

She looked at me curiously before saying "The pilot is old. I don't know how old, but old. One of the stumpy guys, he was injured. Hurt pretty bad. His body is recovering though. No infections. One of the tall ones like you, they're missing a finger. Left index to be exact. A different stumpy guy is in the beginning stages of some sort of foot fungus. Not sure what kind yet." She smiled sheepishly and said "It isn't that impressive."

"Are you kidding me? That's extremely impressive." A realization suddenly dawned on me. "Are you Force-sensitive?"

She looked at me curiously and asked "What does that mean?"

"Can you use the Force?"

She stared at me blankly.

"Do you know what the Force is?"

She shook her head.

"How do you not know what the Force is?" I asked incredulously.

"I just don't. Okay? I've never heard of it before."

"Fine. Fine. But I'm not the best person to explain it to you."

"Try."

I sighed, thought for a moment, and said "I'm not Force-sensitive, but from what I can gather, the Force is this… thing that's everywhere. It's rather uncommon, but some individuals are born with the ability to use it somehow. I don't know how they use it or what it is exactly, but these individuals are referred to as Force-sensitive."

Bree stared at me curiously and asked "What's so special about being able to use it?"

"Force-sensitive individuals possess innate power. The person I worked for was Force-sensitive. And one of my old friends. And one of the people that tried to kill me."

I could see her back stiffen slightly thinking about that. The people that tried to kill me killed her village.

I said "I've also fought many Force-sensitives. They are not to be trifled with."

"Why? What sort of innate power could they possibly have?"

I thought back to the first one I fought. "Well, for starters, they're fast. Their reflexes are superb and they can move faster than anything I've ever seen. They're also able to mess with your mind. Your thoughts and emotions."

"Mind control?" Bree asked.

"Kind of. It's difficult to explain. If you've experienced it before and know of it, you can resist it. They're also telekinetic."

"What's that mean?"

"They can move things without touching them, almost as if by magic."

Her eyes widened considerably. "That's impossible."

"Oh it's quite possible. I've seen it happen. And some of the more powerful ones can shoot lightning out of their hands."

"I don't believe you. That's ridiculous."

"Believe what you want. Pray you never have to face one of them."

We sat for a moment before she asked "Why did you think I was Force-sensitive?"

"A Force-sensitive friend said that that's how he learned he had the gift. He could sense the life around him."

"Oh." She sat quietly before asking "You don't have it?"

"Nope."

"But you've faced them before?"

I nodded. "I've killed many of them."

"Why?"

"I was ordered to."

"Did they mind control you?"

I shook my head.

"Then why?"

"It was war. And I believed in what we were fighting for. I believed in the Sith. The Jedi were the head of an oppressive system. Tyrannical rulers of the planets they controlled. Took what they wanted and stepped on the populace. Total disregard for morality and truth."

"You don't believe that anymore?"

"I still believe it. I just no longer believe in the Sith. For no reason, they labeled me a traitor and tried to have me executed. Then according to Ster, they started killing Seyley. Innocent Seyley died. My people, slaughtered. That is something I cannot support."

"Do you think maybe the Jedi weren't so bad then? Maybe the Sith lied?"

I sighed. "No. They're still awful. I've seen civilians slaughtered. Families torn apart. The Jedi are the root of a lot of suffering. That much wasn't a lie."

She sat quietly and absently rubbed the ring on her finger.

"Hey" I said. "Things will be alright. Okay?"

"How do you know that?"

"Because I won't let anything happen to you."

She gave me a small smile before letting out a yawn.

"You should head to bed."

"Yea, yea, I know" she said before letting out another yawn. She stood up to leave.

"Sleep well" I said.

She smiled and thanked me before walking off.

I stared out into space. I meant what I had said about protecting her. We needed a place to go. To hide. A place that they'd never look.

Tatooine popped into my head. It was in the middle of Hutt space. It had no useful resources to speak of. It was a mainly barren planet. One that neither the Sith nor the Jedi had any reason to care about. A perfect place to hide. I got up and went to tell the pilot.


	48. Chapter 48

**-Sadie-**

I gaped at the ludicrous amount of stuff that was in one of the large empty rooms of the _Everbright_. Vince was grinning like a madman, and Darin had a similar look. The room was supposed to be off-limits, but I wanted to investigate.

"What's going on?" I asked, curious as to what the pair was up to.

Darin looked at me with a grin and said "I'm seeing what kind of stuff Vince has. Wanna check it out as well?"

I shrugged and said "Sure." I walked up to them and found a few crates were opened with a whole slew of weapons and trinkets showing. I pulled out a large ring-type weapon. I examined the green glow from the two ends that didn't fully connect and asked "What's this?"

Darin peered over and said "Oh. I saw that kind of thing on Noreno. Couldn't get it to work."

"That's cause you ain't used to the firing mechanic" Vince said from a few boxes away. He put down the contraption he was holding and came over to us. He reached his hand out and I handed him the ring thing.

He turned it around and said "There's a safety that has to be pressed down when firing. Let go of it, it won't fire. Try to fire without pushing it, it won't fire." He pressed in a hidden button on the inside of the ring near the trigger, then released it. He then aimed at the wall opposite us, pushed the button, and pulled the trigger quickly. The ring lit up bright green for a split second before a thick bolt of green plasma shot out and hit the wall. "You can also charge up a shot for more power." He aimed at the wall again, pressed the button, and pulled the trigger. However, he didn't release it immediately. The ring started glowing bright green, but this time it's glow started increasing in intensity. After a second, Vince released it and a much larger ball of green plasma flew across the room, albeit slightly slower than the small green shot. I noticed that after shooting, two pieces on either side remained jutted out and green gas was coming from the ring. After about a second, the pieces retracted and the gas stopped. "The large shot is slower, but has some homing capabilities. The charged shot is hotter, so the gun is unable to shoot until it returns to safe heat levels. It's a safety mechanism to keep it effective." He tossed the gun to me and said "You try."

Excited, I grabbed the ring and found the safety, once I found the safety, I aimed at the wall and pulled the trigger. The shot rang out and flew across the room. It felt a bit clunky, but that was most likely due to it's rather unusual shape.

Suddenly, Darin piped up "Here. Shoot at me" before igniting his saber and jogging over to stand by the wall.

"You serious?" I asked, slightly taken aback by his decision.

"Yea. If I'm gonna face them, I want to see them coming. Get familiar with it."

I looked at Vince, who shrugged, then turned and shot a few in his general direction.

He batted them away with ease and said "Come on Sadie. Get serious. Actually try to hit me."

I didn't want to. I really didn't.

He wanted me to do it though.

"Darin…" I said, hoping that he'd hear from my voice that I really didn't want to do it.

Darin looked at me for a moment, then pulled out his commlink and pushed a button. I stared at him quizzically, but he just smiled and shrugged.

A few minutes later, a door popped open and M5 walked in.

"I really don't want to be bothered right now" he said as soon as stepping in the room.

Darin said "M5. Sadie is going to shoot at me. Want to watch?"

M5 let out a low mechanical whirring noise before saying "I would indeed."

Darin turned to me and said "See? No risk."

I didn't feel good about it, but I didn't really see too many ways around it. If M5 was here, at least he would get medical treatment quicker. Not that I wanted him to get hurt.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on my family. The Jedi took them from me. They ruined my life. They started all of the horrible stuff that happened to me. After a moment, I could feel my blood begin to boil and the Mandalorian in me rose to the surface.

I looked at Darin, and the fire immediately began to subside. I couldn't be mad at him.

Stop it. Focus.

I looked again and this time I focused only on the blade. With the anger back, I let loose a flurry of shots at Darin.

Each of them was deflected by a few graceful sweeps of the blue blade. I charged up a shot and fired at him.

The blade sliced through the charged shot, and I heard him let out a shout of pain.

The anger was immediately replaced with panic as I stared in shock at Darin as he turned off the saber and fell on his face.

M5 let out a clap and said "Congrats! He's been severely burned!"

I dropped the gun and rushed to him.

When I got to him, I realized he was still breathing. His arms were an ugly shade of red and His fingers looked almost black.

"Oh my god I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry" I exclaimed in a panic.

I heard a grunt and looked at his arms. I watched in awe as he used the Force to repair everything. Within seconds, his arms looked back to normal and he lifted himself off of the ground.

He looked at me and flashed a goofy smile "I'm fine. See?"

I looked at him in shock before punching him in the chest. "What the kriff were you thinking?!"

He smiled. "I didn't want to keep my personal Force shield up. Wanted to scare you a little."

I stared at him before punching him three more times, standing up, and storming over to where Vince was.

I picked up the gun and shot a few times at him. He didn't have his saber yet and wasn't ready, but I saw him fluidly roll to avoid the shots, reach his hand out to catch the saber that he used the Force to pull to him, then quickly deflect the last shot.

Vince, who was looking on with curiosity at the impressive display by Darin, said "I have a few other weapons if you want."

I glanced over, and he said "I'll show you how they work, and then you two can take them all and shoot each other all you want."

* * *

Vince had long since left Darin and I to our own devices. I'd been shooting at Darin with a variety of weapons, but nothing seemed to get to him. He was so incredibly well trained that any combination of shots, no matter how quick or accurate they were or whatever pattern (or lack of one) they were in, nothing would touch him.

Darin had shown me the holocrons, and I had looked up some stuff on lightsaber techniques and forms, but Darin and I never really got into it other than a little bit of the basics. It was from my own curiosity. I'd seen the forms of combat, and what the experts looked like. Their fighting styles were all different and unique.

As I tried to figure out Darin's style, I realized that I couldn't.

I didn't know what to really look for with lightsaber combat, but Darin appeared to not have a form. Instead, he opted for a variety of forms, and they seemed to interweave and come together so seamlessly that it was difficult to distinguish which form was being used when.

It struck me for the first time how lucky I was to be learning from Darin. This guy spent a ridiculous amount of time training in lightsaber combat. He was a workhorse, and he seemed to know quite a bit about the craft. If I could learn from him, maybe I could add a Mandalorian spin to it. I learned to fight at a young age. All Mandalorians do. Grandpa did most of my training.

I imagined combining lightsabers and Mandalorian training, and a smile started to form on my face. That could be one fun combination.

The gun I was holding clicked, and I realized I was empty. Each of the guns was empty at this point.

Darin shuffled over to me and mumbled a quiet "Thanks".

I glanced at him curiously and asked "Everything okay?"

He nodded, but I could see in his face that it wasn't. He looked pale, and I could see beads of sweat had formed along his hairline.

I watched him pass me, and I realized that there was something different about the Force around him.

It seemed to be more volatile, more unstable.

Something about the way it was wrapping around him, interacting with the environment, was familiar.

I watched him leave the room without a word to me. I was tempted to follow, but something told me not to do that. Instead, I started packing the weapons up, musing all the while about the moment.

Suddenly, it hit me. That was how the Force felt when I was angry. When I lost control of it.

But that meant that Darin was losing control.

I felt fear grip me as I imagined the type of destruction Darin could cause.


	49. Chapter 49

**-Darin-**

I made my way to my room and closed the door quickly. I took a quick breath, and tried to steady myself.

I had channeled the dark side during that training with Sadie. I had utilized it, released a bit of energy, and it was incredible. I was capable of blocking the shots so much better than I could using only the light side. There was a very real difference in my level of ability when I harnessed it. It was almost intoxicating.

But afterwards, I felt sick again. Not as sick as I did before, but still pretty shoddy. Sadie noticed it as well.

Sadie.

I felt my heart beat rapidly in my chest. The dark side allowed me to tap into a whole new slew of abilities. But it was also dangerous. A slippery slope. It was more emotionally driven. More impulsive. And I'd felt impulses I hadn't felt in a long time.

No. It's not right. There are rules against that kind of stuff.

Rules the Jedi upheld, which I broke anyways. And now, I wasn't a Jedi. I was free, and certain impulses could be acted upon.

I won't. I can't. The last time I gave in, five people died.

That was a long time ago. And now, I wasn't bound by any rules.

I stood up and went to one of my drawers. I opened the drawer and went to reach in, but my hand wavered. It stayed there, hovering over two different sabers, one an intricate black and red and the other a uniquely rectangular black handle. Trusting the Force, I grabbed the black and red one that used to belong to Sylvia. I ignited it, and the red blade jumped out in front of me. I held it up, watching the red dance off of the items of my room. With my other hand, I reached for the saber on my belt. I palmed the familiar silver and black saber and ignited it. The electric blue blade shot out, and I held it out in front of me. The red and blue blades glowed before me, and I felt something completely unexpected.

I felt… comfortable.

I felt the storm inside of me start to lessen. As I felt the light of the blue sabers kyber crystal and the dark of the red sabers kyber crystal, the Force felt more balanced in me than it did before.

This won't be a perfect method of control. I would still have to learn to control it myself. But this could help me gain control.

I sensed a presence approaching.

Sadie.

Great.

I retracted the sabers, but held onto the handles. I could feel the crystals. I sat on the ground and closed my eyes, focusing on the crystals energies. I tried to clear my mind when I heard a knock on my door.

_Come in._

I heard the door open, but didn't budge. I watched Sadie walk into the main room and feel through the Force to find me. She then walked into the bedroom and noticed me sitting on the floor. She sat down in front of me and whispered "Are you sure that you're okay?"

I could sense the tension and fear she had within her. She was afraid of something.

No. Not something.

Someone.

Me.

I opened my eyes and looked at her. Her soft eyes were full of concern. She met my gaze and gave me a slight, caring smile, and I felt the same impulse stir inside of me.

I realized that I couldn't look at her the same. Not anymore. I'd let my guard down, and I'd felt something start to take root in me.

I gave her a small smile and nodded.

She huffed. It was so barely noticeable that most would miss it, but I didn't.

I sat there silently for a few moments when I felt her suddenly become rather alert, and I could feel some hostility coming from her.

I heard her stand up and say "Why are you holding that?" There was a sudden edge to her voice that I did not anticipate.

The saber. Of course.

I exhaled slowly and said "The Force wills me to wield it." I felt bad for not telling her everything, but I really didn't think that it would be the best idea right about now.

I didn't feel the hostility lessen, but it didn't grow either. She said "Is it the Force, or is it you?"

"It's both."

"Are you aware of who used that? Of what that person did?"

"Yes. I am. But what someone used the weapon for doesn't make the weapon a bad one."

She shifted slightly. "Are you sure that you aren't thinking about switching sides?"

"I won't switch any sides."

A sudden beeping of the commlinks took both of our minds off of the moment. The Admiral was paging us.

* * *

Sadie and I both walked found the Admiral on the command bridge, as well as Tag. She gave a smile to the two of us and said "Glad you two got here so quickly." She turned around and pushed a button. A planet popped up, and a red blinking light appeared to one side of it. "We have received a distress signal from Tatooine."

I nodded, and said "What's the catch?"

"I maneuvered us close to Tatooine to get away from the mess at Corbalant. This signal is short range. Old school style. Hastily put together. Person is in a jam. And here's why." A signal was broadcast to us by a radio station from Tatooine.

"... Alliance troops have suddenly attacked a small location on Tatooine. While it is small, all citizens are urged to stay away from the area north of the Dune Sea. Do not engage the Alliance. Any provocation could potentially lead to a violent takeover that will lead to millions of deaths."

I stared at the beacon, and began thinking of the many possible ways this could be a trap.

Sadie said "I'm going to go down there and help. If anybody else wants to, you're free to come along."

I sighed. Bad idea. Bad idea on many fronts.

I said "Sadie, we have no idea what's going on down there."

"I don't really care" she snapped back at me. Wonderful. She was being unreasonable.

Tag said "I'll lead a ground strike with the clones. Can you cover our descent, Admiral?"

She nodded and said "I'll do the usual 'cover and jam' routine."

I stared at the general area some more before asking "Are we able to see more detail?"

Admiral Cress pushed a few buttons, and the planet's surface zoomed in a bit, showing a large bit of wreckage with some rocks scattered around it. She said "That's the best I can do. No way for me to determine where the attackers are, or why they were even attacking.

"I thought Tatooine was neutral" I muttered.

Tag nodded. "It's supposed to be. Order and Alliance both wrote it off as a backwater with no value whatsoever." It made sense. Tatooine was a hub for scum and outcasts.

I stared at the wreckage and muttered "Then why is the Alliance here?"

"One way to find out" Sadie said.


	50. Chapter 50

**-Darin-**

I stood in the transport ship and held onto the rail. I was positioned so that I would be the first one out the door. The 20 something clones in the transport ship behind me stood silent, but I could feel the nervous anticipation in all of them. Around my waist were the two sabers I was holding earlier. I was wearing the same cloak I wore on Corbalant. The clones who were dropping down had sand-trooper gear on.

There were two other transports coming down. One had Tag and about 20 clones, and the other had Sadie and about 10 clones. The rest of the clones stayed above, manning the guns to shoot down any Alliance ships who took notice of us and got gutsy. The transports would stay in place to pick us up as soon as we could leave, as this would be an extremely close exit for us.

I hated this plan. We were jumping into a situation that we weren't prepared for. I hated having so many people on the ground. I had no idea if this was worth it. We could lose so many men, only to save a few farmers on a backwater planet.

We had no idea what to expect when we dropped down. No idea what kind of force we would be facing.

I cursed Sadie for her brashness.

Then I cursed myself for not putting my foot down and saying no.

* * *

When the transport got low enough to the ground, I dropped off the edge and fell to the sandy dunes below me. We had decided to drop us off a distance away from the location of the signal to avoid being surrounded by blaster fire when dropping down. A few seconds later, the transport landed behind me and the clones filed out. Mouse came up to me and drew his blaster pistols.

"Charges are all set, sir" he told me, and I nodded. I flipped the hood on my cloak up and clicked a mechanism behind my ear. Instantly, a specialized mask fit itself around my face. It was a creation of my own design, and one I was quite proud of. Composed of a specialised nanotech that was housed in miniature storage units I had located behind my ears, they would fit themselves around my head. It didn't cover the top of me head, but created an airtight seal around my face and wrapped around my head to stay in place. It was fitted with a filter, rebreather, and a few other neat contraptions that made it rather useful. At this moment, it would be keeping my mouth, nose, ears, and eyes sand free.

Brick looked up at the sky, then pointed to his right and said "The fighting should be in that direction."

I felt through the Force and, sure enough, I could feel quite a few life forms in that direction. I stared at him, impressed, and asked "How'd you know that?"

He shrugged and said "The suns."

I nodded, then started walking in the direction Brick pointed, with the other clones following closely behind.

**-Tag-**

We dropped down on the rocky crags of Tatooine, and the ship landed on the rocks. The faint sound of blaster fire could be heard where we were from. I jogged a few hundred meters towards the edge of the rock and peered over the edge. Below us and a couple hundred meters to the left, I could see a modest camp was set up with plenty of troops milling about. Far off, I could see the wreckage, with plenty of blaster fire coming from that location. A few terrestrial transports with machine gun turrets on them were circled close to the wreckage and laying down fire.

I activated my comm and said "Wreckage visualized. Got a bit of a problem though. They've got machine guns trained on the planned entry point."

"Kriff" Darin muttered. "Sadie, this might take a bit longer than anticipated."

"That's fine" she responded. "We'll circle back until you give a signal."

"How far out are you?" I asked.

There was a brief pause before she said "About 25 clicks".

Aly said "I'll keep that in mind when I send a signal." Phenomenal.

"Has the drop point changed?" Sadie asked.

"No" I stated. "Darin and I may have to get creative with the opening though. In and out might be trickier than expected."

Darin said "It isn't too late to fall back. Sadie, do you want to-"

"No" she said sharply. "I'm going to lead the extraction team down there and get them out. Just give me an opening."

"You got it Sadie" I said quickly. "Aly will update you when ready. Sound good?"

Sadie voiced her understanding. I looked back at the clones that were with me. Thorn, who I'd put in charge of putting people in their positions, gave me a thumbs up.

"Darin, my guys are at the ready to support us. Are yours?"

"Yea. Strike team is in ready positions. Are you cutting a path by yourself?"

"I have to. The pass isn't scalable. They're taking up sniping positions. Once I drop down, I can't get back up."

"I was hoping that the terrain wasn't as bad as it looked on the _Everbright_" Darin said.

"I can make do" I said.

"Sounds good. I'll start it off, cause a large distraction. That'll lead them one way. Then you can come up behind them. We clear a spot by the extraction point, then you come with us. Snipers can pick off threats from afar."

"Copy. I'll wait for the diversion."

I turned to Thorn and quickly filled him in. Thorn nodded and went to inform the troopers. I sat on the edge of the cliff, feet dangling and looked down. It was a steep incline, with the bottom being about 100 meters down.

I took a deep breath, and waited.

**-Darin-**

I closed my eyes and felt through the Force. By their main camp, I saw my opportunity. I turned to Brick and Mouse and said "Once you see the signal, start moving towards the back of those turrets over there." I pointed to the nearest turret, some 500 meters away. "Clear out the path, and once you have taken out a few of those turrets, retreat to the transport and get the hell out."

"Got it sir."

I nodded and turned around. Seeing my opening, I darted forwards and slid behind a crate. As a terrestrial transport drove by, I quickly rolled under it and grabbed onto the bottom of it.

I held on as it bumped along, barely able to stay on at some points. I used the Force to keep tabs on my surroundings.

I noticed an opening and dropped, throwing myself out of under the car with the Force and narrowly missing being flattened by the transport. I found myself between a few crates, one of which contained something that smelled quite citrusy. My stomach rumbled, but I pushed forwards anyways.

Making sure to stay unseen, I darted through the shadows until I reached a fuel tank. I quickly slapped on a few remote charges and started slithering away from the tanks and towards the extraction point.

A surge through the Force hit me and I ducked. A blaster bolt whizzed past me, barely missing. Kriff. I'd gotten careless.

Fine then. I'll fight my way to the extraction point.

I used the Force and grabbed the attacker, throwing him back and knocking him out. I pushed the button on the remote, and the charges went off.


	51. Chapter 51

**-Darin-**

I severely underestimated the amount of hyperfuel that they had stored. The shock wave from the blast threw me back about 10 meters. I slammed into a transport with quite a bit of force, and my head slammed against the metal. I forced myself to stay conscious and grabbed onto the side of the transport and struggled to my feet. My knees threatened to buckle, my vision was blurring, and my ears were ringing. It felt like somebody plunged a hot knife into the back of my skull.

I tried to heal myself, but the headache made that nearly impossible. I couldn't focus the Force enough.

I thought I could hear a faint voice, but couldn't see anyone in my vicinity. The only bodies I could see were so charred that I could barely even recognize them.

I should have ended up like them. I should be a charred husk.

I struggled to take a few steps, but my knees buckled and I collapsed to the ground.

I wanted to curl up and die so badly. But I couldn't. I had a job to do.

As anger at my own physical weakness started to course through me, I started to draw strength from it. I pulled myself to my feet awkwardly and started moving towards the drop point.

* * *

I faced little resistance. All around me were the charred remains of numerous creatures. This changed when I came across a group of Burhaj and Seyley that were making their way to the site of the explosion. I could see them shoot, but wasn't fast enough to dodge them. I felt the blaster bolts impact my body, burning through my clothes and searing my flesh. The pain was excruciating, but for some reason my mind cleared and I felt like I was pumped full of pure energy. I lit my blue saber, deflected a few shots towards the Burhaj, felling them, and threw the saber at the Seyley. He dodged and continued shooting at me, but I rolled quickly to avoid the shots and pulled the saber back to me, stabbing through the Seyley's back as it traveled to my hand. Felling energized, I started jogging over to the wreckage, Throwing my saber at any enemies and manipulating it to cut through anyone who dared stand in my path.

**-0000-**

After Darin left, the clones were jittery as they anticipated the action that they would encounter.

Mouse readjusted his helmet again and stared at the distance. "A bit far, don't ya think?" he said.

Brick glanced and nodded.

Toby cleaned sand out of his blaster rifle and asked "Scott, what's the situation?"

Scott flipped the scope on his helmet up and said "Same as before. Light patrols."

Toby nodded, then put the rag away and picked up a bag of explosives.

"Going somewhere?" Mouse asked.

"I want to be ready," he replied promptly.

Al came over and found a rock to sit on. "When I get back, I'm taking a kriffing bath."

Scott grunted and said "Same for me."

"I've got sand in my crack" Mouse whined.

Chad, Shane, Zero, and Pete walked over and dropped onto the sand. Pee said "You know what sounds amazing right now? A beer."

The clones nodded in agreement. Al said "An ice cold beer and a grav-ball game on the holovision would be a dream right now."

Chad said "I'd rather have an ice cold beer and a woman. God, I haven't felt a woman in such a long time."

Scott said "I miss that bar on Coruscant. Remember the one? So many good ones there."

Shane laughed and said "Remember that redhead who came over and accidentally spilled my beer? She was a lot of fun. Wish I could see her again."

Pete said "I want to settle down. Live a normal life. Find a woman to love and have a family."

Chad said "Family man. I respect that. But that life ain't for me. I was made pretty. Gotta share my gifts."

There was some quiet laughter from some of the guys, followed by some crude jokes.

Toby said "There's no use complaining right now. They aren't going to be stopping to pick up a bunch of women for you."

Chad exclaimed "That's a great idea! We should talk to the General and have him round up a bunch of hotties for us!"

There was quite a bit of laughter at the thought of that. When the laughter mellowed out, Zero said "I don't care who is put on the ship, Sadie is still better."

Chad nodded. "I could watch that ass for days."

Pete said "Don't let her find out. She'd whoop your ass."

Chad smirked. "I could win her over, no problem."

"Then why haven't you?" Pete responded quickly.

"Well, you see, t-"

An explosion boomed, and Toby said "That has to be the signal. Everyone get yourselves ready!"

The clones quickly got ready, and Toby started running towards the transports. The rest of the clones followed closely behind.

They hit like a swift hammer. Blaster fire from the group took out many of the enemy forces, most of whom had no idea what had just happened. They reached the turret closest to the entrance without a single casualty.

Mouse, carrying the charges, scurried forwards and set them up on the turret as the other clones gave cover fire. Then, they moved to the next one. And the next. And the next. They moved with speed and purpose, each knowing their job and executing it to perfection.

As they approached the final turret, a large yellow beam of energy shot at them and forced the group to split up. Another caused the distance to widen even more.

One group was near the turret. The other was quite a distance away.

Another shot hit Zero square in the chest, sending him into the transport and killing him.

Two creatures approached. Both looked stood at about 4 meters tall and had large hulking frames, made even more prominent by the thick blue armor they wore on their bodies. At joints, around their backs and abdomen, and on their face they had orange spaces that appeared to be an undersuit, as it didn't resemble any form of skin. They had what appeared to be blue quills on the armor on their backs. A large cannon was attached to their armor on their left arm, and a giant blade was mounted on their right. They ran towards them, almost in perfect unison, and Toby yelled "Get the charges on the turret! We'll hold them off!"

Mouse and a few clones ran to the last turret, while Toby and most of the clones went after the two behemoths.

As they unleashed fire, the behemoths raised the massive blade to cover their midsections.

Al yelled "Go for the orange bits!"

As they started trying to shoot the orange bits, they realized just how good the protection was. Their orange faces, while large, became almost nonexistent when they defensively slanted their heads. They used their blades to cover the orange of the abdomen, and their backs were difficult to hit for any one clone.

As the clones dodged the yellow blasts and tried to find an opening, Mouse said over the comm "Charges placed. Pilot will blow it in 5 minutes."

Chad yelled "Lets go!"

He and a few clones tried to run, but a yellow blast hit one in the group and sent him flying.

"We have to fight!" Toby yelled.

Chad got a little too close to one of them while firing at it and the behemoth lunged at him and swiped its blade, killing him and sending his body flying.

As everybody flipped around, trying to dodge the blasts, Brick had an idea. He grabbed a grenade from his pouch and yelled "Cover me!" Pete started firing at the creature while Brick sprinted towards it, grenade in hand. As the creature swiped at Brick, he slid, barely avoiding getting clobbered, and got back on his feet in a hurry. He activated the grenade and buried it in the orange bits of its back. He then immediately ran as far back as possible. The grenade went off, and orange goop splattered everywhere. The other creature gave an ear piercing shriek and started attacking much more violently.

Brick pulled out his blaster and started firing at the creature, prompting it to run after him. Mouse, seeing an opportunity, started shooting blaster bolts into the orange bits. The bolts hit, and the creature writhed in pain, fell to its knees, and died.

**-Tag-**

A flash of light, followed almost instantly by the sound of an explosion, roused me from my daydreams.

"You ready?" I asked Aly before jumping off the cliff.

"Does it really matter?" Aly replied lazily as I slid down the cliff face, landed on the ground and rolled.

"Nope" I responded, pulling out my blaster rifle and sprinting at an unsuspecting Junel. I body slammed him and sent him flying hard into the side of a small shelter. I kept running down the path I had planned out, shooting most opposition I came across. Most fell to the rifle fire; the ones that didn't received a full power punch in the head, and nobody stayed up after that.

I suddenly came face to face with a tall avian-like being that I had never encountered before. It had a yellowish orange coloration, and was featherless except for a tuft it had on the top of its head. Instead of wings, it had arms with long, spindly fingers, each of which was topped with a razor sharp claw. Its sharp eyes seemed to gleam as it sized me up. I charged at it, shooting at it, and before I could react a shining green energy shield appeared in front of it, protecting it from the blaster fire. I reached it and threw a punch as usual, but the shield blocked it. The shield disappeared with a hiss, and I went at it to punch the creature again. It dodged the punch faster than I could even react and came up behind me, within striking distance. However, it didn't strike me. Odd.

The creature backed up, trying to get distance to shoot me, but I closed the gap. This time, I was ready for the dodge and followed up with a kick. It connected, and I could hear bones fracturing as the creature went flying. It was an oddity, that was for sure, but I didn't stick around and investigate. I had to keep going.

I noticed something blue fly in front of me, then fly back. It was a lightsaber.

I sprinted harder and stopped suddenly when I was almost impaled by the saber. I could see it whizz past me, impaling the Junel that was on the other side, before flying back to the hand of Darin.

I stared in shock at the figure. His robe had rather large burnt holes from blaster bolts impacting his body. His mask was up, but he had blood running down his neck. When he recognized me, he pulled back the mask. I saw blood running down his face from his left eyebrow, which managed to smear all over his face. He also had a wild look in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"No" he said. "Let's get the way clear for Sadie." He flipped the mask back on and moved forwards

I couldn't really argue with him, so I followed him.

I noticed a slight limp in his step, as well as some grunting when he threw his saber or pulled it back.

A few explosions rang out from the turret line, and I smiled to myself. The clones did their job.

I charged ahead of Darin and started gunning the enemy forces left and right until we were just about at the wreckage. The turrets were about 20 meters in front of us, and the wreckage 30 meters away. Enemy forces were scrambling in all directions trying to figure out what to do.

A shot rang out, and I heard a grunt behind me. I turned and noticed that Darin had been hit with another blaster bolt. Five Junel were coming up behind us, and I could notice a few of those avian creatures hopping over boxes to meet us from our left. As they were about to meet us, blaster bolts came out of nowhere and felled each of the avians.

"Thanks Thorn" I yelled into the comm.

"Don't thank me yet. We have no clear shots on those furballs" he said.

Aly yelled "DUCK!", and I ducked just in time to narrowly avoid getting hit by a grenade. It bounced behind me and exploded, and I turned and sprinted at the Junel. They were hammering away at Darin, who was deflecting shots with his saber while gripping his right side with his left hand. I fired at the Junel, causing two to stumble, and tackled one to the ground before punching him. I was grabbed from behind by one of the other Junel, but a quick elbow got me away from him, where I shot him in the head. I turned just in time to see Darin get shot again, causing him to drop his lightsaber.

A few more bolts hit him in rapid succession, and I rushed at the Junel. As I did, I realized that something was changing. The air began to cool. Frost started forming on my armor.

"The environment is cooling drastically. This shouldn't be possible, especially during the day" Aly said.

The Junel fired their blasters at us, but their blaster bolts dissipated mere moments after firing. Without questioning what was happening, I ran at one of the Junel and started beating him. Once he was down, I went to attack the others and found them encased in ice. I stared at them before turning to Darin. He was standing and holding his saber. His robe was ragged from the constant blaster fire, and through the holes and along his neck, I could see dark blue veins clearly against the skin. He looked around, and started jogging towards the wreckage. As he passed, his surroundings got covered in a layer of frost and blaster bolts dissipated from the cold.

"He is emitting extremely unnatural energy signatures" Aly said helpfully.

"Wonderful" I said, and ran after him.

Aly quickly notified Sadie that it was time to move in as I watched Darin in amazement.

Darin reached one of the transport turrets and stuck his hand out. Ice immediately formed around the turret. He stuck his hand out at another, and a hunk of ice shot up and sent the transport flying.

I snapped out of it and went after him, hoping I could help somehow. There really wasn't any need for me, though. He was a force of nature.

We finally reached the last turret, and I noticed that he seemed to start fading a little. As soon as he iced over the last turret, he collapsed. I caught him as he fell, said "LZ clear", and sprinted to the transport that Darin arrived in with him in my arms.

**-Sadie-**

The magical words "LZ clear" rang in my ears as we were descending. I put on my helmet and pulled out my blasters. My lightsaber was at the ready. I turned to Q. "Think you can keep up with me?" I taunted.

He smiled, put his helmet on, and said "You can bet on it."

He hoisted his blaster, electric baton at his beckon if he needed.

I turned to Brock. "Shields are good?"

He smiled and nodded. "We're all just peachy."

"Ooo, peachy. I like to hear that."

The bay door started to open, and I jumped and activated my pack.

There was plenty of blaster fire, as by now the enemy forces have had time to recover and organize a little. I scanned the turrets, and was surprised to see that ice covered most of them. As I navigated towards the wreckage, I found the opening that we planned to use. I dropped down amidst blaster fire and started shooting in many different directions, feeling with the Force where the enemy was. As I peeked in from the side, I caught a glimpse of a Seyley inside of the wreckage, firing back at the troops outside.

I dodged, narrowly missing a charging Junel, and a stun baton flashed in front of me as he passed, hitting him square in the head and incapacitating him.

"What took you so long?" I asked.

"Got caught in traffic, missed a street, got stuck at a very slow light, you know" he responded as we began running towards the opening.

"I don't believe you" I said as he threw a grenade at the wall of the side door.

"You're right. I lied" he said, and the explosion blew the metal wide open. "I refused to ask for directions."

"Knew it" I said as I darted inside. Guns were pointed at me almost immediately, and I said "I'm not a threat. You are being rescued."

The guns were somewhat lowered, and I noticed that the room was filled with quite a few Seyley and Burhaj, as well as one Mirialan woman. Many seemed to be injured.

A Seyley in dark grey armor stepped in front of her, as if shielding her from me.

"Why should we trust you?" a Seyley in silver armor asked.

I ducked as a bolt whizzed past me and said "I'm not trying to kill you."

The silver Seyley looked at the grey Seyley, and they seemed to have a silent conversation.

Finally, the grey Seyley said "Lead the way."

I smiled, and relief washed over me. Part of me worried that they wouldn't come. "Alright! Everyone follow me!" I said excitedly. I jogged to the opening I blew open, and they seemed to recoil when they saw the clones. Q had done his job of keeping the opening clear and getting the clones with riot shields organized to create a safe pathway to get to the ship.

The Seyley stopped when they noticed the clones.

"They're fine, don't worry!" I said, and motioned for them to go. The grey Seyley moved for the injured to go first.

As the injured got up to the ship with Q's help, some strange looking avian bugger came at us from where those we rescued were staying. It was moving so fast that I could barely register it, but instinct came in and I drew my saber and slashed, cutting the thing in two. A Junel started charging from the same direction, and I used the Force and pulled the ceiling down, blocking its way to us. Satisfied, I turned and checked to make sure everybody was on the ship before helping the clones on the ship and finally, myself. The pilot sped away without a moment's hesitation.

* * *

I took my helmet off and shook my hair out a bit. I'd let it get a bit longer, and now it was slightly past my shoulders.

"Hell of a job, team!" I exclaimed as I went and high fived each of the clones.

I felt elated. On top of the world. First rescue mission was an overwhelming success!

The grey Seyley gruffly said "Mandalorian."

I turned, and saw that he was standing right behind me. I looked up to meet his gaze, but wasn't intimidated in the slightest.

"Yes?"

He glared at me, his distrust evident. I sensed Q step behind me, as well as the other clones. I had their support. He noticed them too, but didn't waver.

He said "I appreciate the help, but we would appreciate it if you would drop us off somewhere soon."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why? You'll get in the exact same situation."

He narrowed his eyes and said "The Order has done horrible things to our kind, and I refuse to be among you. If you weren't risking your skin to save ours, I'd kill you all on the spot."

I felt the clones tense behind me.

I said "We aren't with the Order."

He looked at me with confusion and said "You are a Jedi who has clones and uses Order ships."

"That's a very long story. But I assure you, we are not with the Order."

He stared at me for a little bit before saying "Let's say I believe you. If you aren't Order, then who are you?"

"We're a group called Splinter."

"Never heard of them."

"We're kind of new."

Over the speakers, the pilot said "Docking now."

I waved for the clones to disperse behind me. I didn't want the Seyley to think that we were threats.

Cautiously, I asked "Are you with the Alliance?"

The Seyley looked at me with fire in his eyes and said "Those pigs tried to have us killed."

"I guess we have a common enemy then."

"Are you suggesting that we fight together?" He growled at me.

"I mean, you seem like soldiers, and it's not like we're safe anywhere, you know, with our little place on the Order's hit list. And after saving your butts, I'd say we made our way on the Alliance's as well. My guess is we both have that in common."

"We'll consider it" he grunted.

I smiled and said "My names Sadie, by the way. Didn't catch yours."

"I didn't give it" he said flatly. He turned to walk off before turning his head and saying "The names Than."


	52. Chapter 52

**-Than-**

As we descended and I heard the landing gear shifting, I felt my heart bump a few notches faster than before.

This could be a trap.

I rubbed my eyes. I was being paranoid. The Mandalorian seemed to be telling the truth to me.

I glanced at the few clones in the ship with us. They looked like all the clones I had fought before, but they also didn't. Never before had I seen a clone with markings on their armor, much less markings that differed for each clone.

As I listened to some of the conversations they had, I realized that these weren't normal clones. Something about them was different. They seemed less like clones and more like individuals.

This hit me in a way I didn't expect. I had always killed clones without thought, assuming them to be all the same. Mindless soldiers. Nothing like the Seyley on my side. But that didn't seem to be the case here.

The doors opened, and I saw the hangar bay of an Order carrier. But something was different.

"An Order carrier?" Ster muttered behind me.

"I know. I've infiltrated plenty before. But this one feels… different. Less militaristic" I said. I watched as the clones walked around and met others, and noticed that many weren't wearing battle armor at all.

Two more ships were near us, and I watched as clones came out, helmets off, and walked towards a door to the side of the hangar. Above the door, written clearly in Basic, were the words "Locker Room".

I heard a gasp and the Mandalorian rushed forwards, the electric baton clone following closely behind. I watched in interest as an individual in a large, rather unique battle suit came out of a ship carrying a body. The Mandalorian rushed towards them, and soon after a droid arrived and the individual and the body were whisked away with the droid. The individual raised their hand, signaling for her to stay here, and I could see her hang her head and her shoulders begin to tremble as they left. The electric baton clone guided her to a stack of boxes and had her sit on them.

"She's terrified" Bree's soft voice said behind me. "And she feels guilty." She took a few steps forward and said "She's different. She's like me."

"She's a Jedi" Ster said. "Saw her bring the debris down to allow us to escape."

I noticed the electric baton clone coming towards us, and that the Mandalorian was leaving.

I put an arm out in front of Bree and stepped in front of her. The clone noticed this and glared at me. I glared back.

The door burst open, and the individual in the battle suit came out, followed closely by a rather jittery Seyley.

"A Seyley?" Ster muttered as he watched him walk towards one of the ships.

"Hey" the electric baton clone said as he reached us. "Name's Q. Commander ordered me to make you feel at home." He said this with a slight hint of hostility towards us.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

Ster said "Thank you for the rescue."

Q looked to him and nodded.

"We have injured people" Bree said.

Q smiled at her and said "We can arrange for a transport to bring them to the med-bay."

He pushed a button on his comm and a droid appeared. Q said "This little clanker here will transport your injured for you. I'll let you split yourselves however you like and one group can go with him and the other with me."

"We go together" I snarled at him.

He shrugged and said "M5 won't like that, but be my guest."

The droid quickly loaded up the injured and we followed Q as he led us through a few doors.

We kept walking through a few hallways, and I was surprised to see that each and every clone shared the same individuality as Q did. They all had identifying marks and styles.

We turned a corner and Q stopped and said "Please wait a moment." He walked through the door, with the droid following with our injured comrades. We waited outside and some muted chatter came from the Specs.

There weren't many of us left alive after the siege. About 10 Seyley, not including myself, and 17 Burhaj were left alive after the siege. Two of the Seyley and four of the Burhaj were seriously injured, with many others nursing large scrapes and open wounds injured.

Q stepped out, along with the Mandalorian, who had her helmet on.

The Mandalorian asked "Are you the leader of these troops?"

I glanced at Ster and said "No."

She glanced at Ster and said "I'm sure the story is complicated. I need to talk to you two."

"Bree comes with me" I said.

"Fine. Fine. Q. Please take everyone except these two and the Mirialan and show them around. I need to talk to them. Follow me" she said as she walked off. We dutifully followed.

* * *

We arrived in a semi-circular room with a table in the middle of it. Fluorescent lights shone from the ceiling, and some pictures of flowers and rivers were hanging from the walls.

The Mandalorian took a seat at the table and placed her head in her arms.

Ster and I glanced at each other. We were on edge, neither of us trusting the lone figure before us.

Bree, however, shared no such worry. Tentatively, she asked "Are you okay?"

I gave her a sharp look, and she seemed to shrink a little.

The Mandalorian groaned, then said "I'm going to be asking you some questions, and I expect honest answers." She took off her helmet, and I could see that her eyes were puffy and red.

"First things first," she said. "Who the hell are you people?"

Ster said "We are simple folks, and w-"

The Mandalorian slammed her fist loudly against the table and yelled "MY FRIEND RISKED HIS LIFE TO SAVE YOU, AND NOW HE'S FLOATING IN A BACTA TANK AND FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE!" She paused momentarily before saying "I am in a very bad mood right now. You WILL tell me what I want to know, or I'll make you wish that you died on Tatooine."

The lock on the door clicked behind us.

I glanced at Bree, then at Ster. We made eye contact, and he gave me a slight nod.

"I am Than Valum" I said. "I hold the title of the Vindicator. I was one of Lord Terrias's most effective assassins, and made it to his inner circle." I nodded to Ster, and said "This is Ster Bureem. He is my best friend. He is also the Commander of the Specs, which is a small strike force that specialized in stealth and espionage. All soldiers that are with us are members of the Specs."

Her face conveyed no emotions as she let everything sink in. "Who's she?" she asked, motioning to Bree.

"A refugee" I said, hoping that my answer would suffice.

She glared at me angrily, before nodding, then pushed a button on her comm, as well as on the table. Within moments, a hologram of a droid appeared, sitting on her side of the table.

"I have patients to attend to, so don't expect me to care too much about this junk" the droid said in a mildly inconvenienced tone.

The Mandalorian motioned for us to sit, which we hesitantly did.

Another hologram popped up seated next to the droid, this one of a young woman. She sat quietly and gave us a slight smile. A few moments later, a knock came from the door, and the lock clicked open. The individual in the battle armor walked in and took a seat by the Mandalorian. He removed his helmet, and I was surprised to see the face of a clone peering back at me. He looked us over before asking "Why did this require all of us?"

"We need to vote on what we do with them" The Mandalorian said.

"Well, what do we know?" the clone said.

"Seyley and Burhaj. Names I have are Than Valum and Ster Bureem. Both of them are extremely dangerous. He-" she pointed at me, "-is some bigwig assassin and he-" she pointed at Ster, "-is some bigwig commander. Don't know what the story is with the Mirialan girl. But these two are dangerous, and are being hunted by the Alliance."

"So you… aren't… Alliance?" the woman asked.

"We were. Then they tried to kill us."

"Good reason to leave, I'd say" the clone said with a small smile.

"What's your plan?" the droid asked, to the surprise of everyone. It looked around and said "What? There's a reason I'm here."

"We don't have any plans," I said. "So if you could just let us go-"

"You'd be stranded, captured and killed within the week" the droid said. "You either fight back or continue running. Settling down isn't going to be an option for you."

"You can stay with us," the lady said helpfully. "Join our team. We have-"

A loud beeping from the droid's side interrupted her, and Sadie's head shot up. The droid, in a slightly panicked voice, said "I have to go" before the hologram cut out. The Mandalorian went to stand, but the clone's arm shot out to stop her. He looked at her and shook his head. She pushed his arm away and stormed out of the room. The clone quickly pulled up his comm and said "Q, I need you to contain Sadie. Distract her. Comfort her. Talk sense. Whatever. Thanks" before shutting it off and smiling awkwardly at us.

The woman said, "I think it best if you do accept our help. I've been doing my best to keep us off the grid and avoid both the Alliance and the Order, and we've done well so far. It's not often we find someone who won't kill us."

"What is the point of your team?" Ster asked. "You must have a goal."

The woman looked awkwardly at the clone, who returned the awkward look before saying "Well, that's a… good question. Our goal right now is to survive."

"If you're trying to survive, why did you rescue us?" Ster asked. "That would clearly put you on the radar of the Alliance."

The woman said, "Well, we're kind of like a… rebellion? I guess?" she looked at the clone, who shrugged and said "Sounds about right." She looked at us and smiled sheepishly, saying "We're really new."

Ster raised an eyebrow quizzically. "A rebellion? Against what? Who? What's your motive?"

The clone said, "Against… well, we're against the war between the Order and the Alliance. Most of us are originally from the Order, and while the Order isn't perfect, we believe that it can be better once the war ends. We are trying to help put the war to an end faster."

"The Order has done terrible things" Ster said.

"In the name of ending the war" the clone said. "Haven't we all done terrible things to further our own causes?"

I nodded. "Fair point," I said, "What differentiates you from them?"

The woman said, "We don't discriminate. That is a huge thing. We allow no discrimination of any kind. Not against clones, not against droids, nobody. We value life. We try to save as many people as we can. We try to help the innocent people that have had their lives ruined by the war. We try to help. We want to take down the Alliance."

"Not the Order?" I asked.

"Well, no. The Order can be salvaged and turned into a peaceful government again. It has checks and balances," the woman said.

I snorted, but said nothing.

"So you're extremists?" Ster asked.

"No, no no no. Not extremists" the woman said. "We're more like revolutionists."

"How are you being funded?" Ster asked.

"We aren't" the clone said. "We've been resorting to small scale attacks for supplies."

Ster nodded and said "So who leads this group?"

"We have a council, with everyone bringing something new to the group. Both of us, M5, the droid, Sadie, the Mandalorian, and Darin, who kind of kick-started everything," the clone said.

"And how experienced is everyone with this sort of thing?" Ster asked.

"Well…" the woman said, "M5 is a rather new experimental droid. Sadie has virtually no experience leading. Darin has very little experience. Tag-" she looked at the clone, "-has the most battlefield experience, but clones aren't trained to lead things. And I'm fresh out of the Academy, so I don't have much."

"Kriff…" I muttered. "I hope you realize that your little group will fail."

"Maybe," the woman said. "But we're trying to do the right thing here. The Order and the Alliance have led to the slaughter of countless lives. The more people we help, the more support we get. Sure, we may lose in the end, but it's better than living and doing the wrong thing."

They had their hearts in the right place. That much was clear. But they would fail. Unless…

I looked at Ster, knowing that the same thing was going on in his head. He gave me a look that said _your choice._ I turned to look at Bree, and I made up my mind. I looked at them and said, "You have your hearts in the right place. We also support many of the ideas, you seem to value. However, you are going to fail. You don't have the resources or the experience to even have a shot. Lucky for you, we can help mitigate one of those. While working alongside the Order doesn't sit well with me, the I know full well that the Alliance is a broken system and has done atrocious things. I am willing to give it a shot. Ster and I both have invaluable experience. We will gladly join your ranks, as long as Ster and I both become part of your council."

The woman's eyes widened slightly and she said "Why would we just allow you to join our council? We have no reason to trust you."

"And that's a fair point," I said. "But you also have no reason to distrust us. You've saved our lives, and we owe ours to you. We are fighters, soldiers, and tacticians. You need us. And, as much as I don't want to admit it, we need you. Our men are fighters without a home. We've all been wronged by the Alliance, and want revenge. I am sure that they would gladly join up with you."

The woman said "The clones won't immediately trust you, you know."

"Then we will earn their trust and respect" Ster said. He nodded at Than. "Like we've had to do since we came into existence."

She nodded. "Even though I would absolutely take your offer and have you join, we need a vote to do things like this. And unfortunately, most of our group isn't here."

The clone said "Darin is indisposed, Sadie is not in the proper mindset right now, and M5 is trying to save his life. How about we make you part of our council and treat you as such, but don't announce you joining the council until all can decide? You'd be part of us, just not official yet."

Ster nodded and said "That's fair."

The clone said "With that decided, how about I show you guys around?"


	53. Chapter 53

**-0000-**

Caty turned off the holoprojector and stared at the floor in silence.

She looked around the bridge and caught the eye of Peter, her second in command. "Can you hold down the fort for a bit?" she asked. "I need a quick rest."

"Sure thing," he said, happy for the excuse to be in charge.

Caty got out of her seat and made her way to the lift, taking it down from the bridge until she reached the upper level dorms. She went down the hall until she reached her room, which was towards the middle, and went inside.

Her room was sparsely decorated. Her diploma was on the wall, as well as a picture of her and her younger brother. Another picture was on the wall of her, her brother, and her parents, smiling happily at the camera. On the cabinet, she had a replica Star Destroyer and a gymnastics medal. She smiled slightly.

Her eyes traveled to her nightstand, and to the small pair of carved, wooden wings on her nightstand. She grabbed the wings and examined them. They were neatly carved, and looked very much like the authentic wings that were given to Grand Admirals of the Order.

When Darin had given her this, she was unsure of what it meant.

That hadn't changed. She still didn't know how to feel about the wings.

Darin had given them to her after he confronted her outside of the med bay. After he confronted her on her allegiance. Back then, she was quite sure that she needed to stay loyal to the Order. That Darin was a danger to everybody on the ship and that she could help bring him in when he started attacking the Order.

But now, she didn't feel sure at all.

Darin had risked his life multiple times now for the good of other people. He wasn't other Jedi. He didn't act like he was superior to others, and he made sure that that mindset permeated the whole ship. Not a single discriminatory complaint had been filed. The mood on the ship was high, regardless of the fact that they had no backing and could die at any time.

She always assumed the Order was correct because it was the side she was on. But with distance, and perspective, she had noticed the glaring flaws in the system. The discrimination, the racist social hierarchy, the devaluing of life, the suppression of individualism, and the ridiculous level of control all became very clear. She no longer felt like she knew what side was the right side.

**-0000-**

Lysis walked calmly through the wreckage on Tatooine. The attack on Tatooine was not his plan. Lord Terrias, although giving him command of the search, had been tipped off to their presence and had mounted the assault. Without ever telling Lysis.

He gritted his teeth. He couldn't account for variables he had no knowledge of. Lord Terrias had become more erratic and emotional in recent times. His instability was becoming a hindrance.

He walked to a clear explosion site. The trajectory of the debris depicted the origin, and he sighed.

Hyperfuel stores. They weren't very well guarded, judging from the few bodies he found. He suspected this of being the first thing that happened.

As he circled around, he noticed some curious marks on one of the crates.

Blood. A quick examination of the sand around the debris showed a trail of blood.

Somebody survived the explosion. Not without being severely wounded, though.

As he followed, he noticed the clear signs of lightsaber scores on the bodies.

A Force-user. Must be quite powerful to survive the explosion.

He followed the blood trail until he reached a point where the trail of bodies branched. The blood trail continued straight, towards the debris that they were all laying siege to. Feeling that that would be the end point, he decided to take the branching path of bodies. He would return to the main path, but he wanted to see this one.

As he followed down this path, he noticed that the bodies here were either full of blaster scores or had suffered blunt trauma to the body. An odd combination. He followed this path all the way to the wall of the canyon and looked up. That must be where this individual came from.

He returned back to the path of blood, and noticed that some of the bodies now also had blaster scoring or suffered blunt trauma. A joining of forces, most likely.

As he followed the path, he noticed something he had been told would be present, but was surprising nonetheless. A few Junel were encased in ice, and the sand and surrounding items were covered in frost.

He glanced at the suns and frowned. Some form of cryogenic weapon or attack was being utilized in the middle of the blazing desert. Lysis touched the ice, and felt the cold on his fingers. This was unprecedented. Curiously, the trail of blood stopped. The path to the siege, now outlined in frost, was an easy one to follow. As he got to the turrets and examined them, he noted the large amount of ice still encasing quite a few of them.

The trail of ice stopped, and he noticed a large amount of blood in the sand.

He noticed that about two thirds of the turrets had been blown up, and he went to examine them. As he walked over, he saw a few dead clones laying in the sand, as well as two dead Maleko. An examination of the clones showed that they were clones of the Order, but they were unlike any others. Their armor had purposeful marks that distinguished them.

A unique brand, and not one accepted by the Order.

He strolled to the wreckage, noticing the pile of bodies that were laying around.

A multi-layered attack plan. Impressive.

This was not the Order. His gut told him it was related to the individuals Lord Terrias had wanted him to hunt down. The rogue Jedi and his crew.

He mulled over the scene before him. These individuals were extremely dangerous. More so now that they had the Vindicator and the Specs.

Than Valum's survival had catalyzed the problems. It was bad enough that Lord Terrias often refused to tell him about problems until it was too late and drastic measures had to be taken. Now with his increased volatility, he was worse than ever. Lord Terrias may need these individuals to be found, and he may need the Specs and the Vindicator eliminated, but he also needed to be dealt with.

**-0000-**

Bool Ansi stared in silence as he watched the young Togrutan female before him. She was a light red color, and three white lekku, or head-tails, with dark blue stripes adorning them. Her montrals, which still hadn't grown to full size, had thinner blue stripes on them. Her skin had light white stripes on it, and her lips were a pale gray color. Around her neck was an akul-tooth necklace.

He groaned at her rookie mistakes and adjusted his respirator. He, being a Gand, was incapable of breathing the air of most planets.

"I thought Togrutan's were hunters" he called to the female as she made one misstep and was spotted by the practice droid, which began blasting at her. She nimbly avoided getting hit and took cover behind the rock.

"You know, if you would let me use the Force I'd be through without a problem," she called back to him.

"Then you'd miss the point," he said, waving the droid to turn off and walking towards her. "You are Kerlah Min first, and Padawan second."

"You know, you also tell me that the Force is part of me. So there really shouldn't be a difference."

Bool huffed her way and said "Again."

**-Kerlah-**

I fumed as I walked back to the start of the course Bool had made. He had a gym on his capital ship in which he created practice environments for him to simulate hunting and tracking sessions. He was the best tracker in the Order, and as such was provided one of the best practice facilities in the Order.

The course he was making me run mimicked the slums of Corbalant. I had to get through stealthily and quietly, determine the randomized location of a picture of Bool at college while he was drunk, get a clear picture of it, and escape the area, all without getting caught. There weren't patrols, but random individuals living in the area.

I stretched my back, feeling my vertebrae pop, and closed my eyes. Every instinct of mine wanted to switch to the Force, to use the strongest weapon in my toolbag, but I wasn't supposed to. Bool wouldn't allow it. The training had a purpose apparently, and I needed to succeed. I watched as the droids, who were acting as lowly citizens, complete with wearing drab brown cloaks. I walked over casually, making sure to avoid prying eyes, and darted from shadow to shadow. I was almost caught a few times, but was able to barely avoid breaking cover as I would quickly dart to one side or another to keep out of sight.

I found an entry point in the first house, determined that it was empty inside, and quickly slipped inside. I rifled through the desk documents, looked at the pictures on the walls, and checked in many of the hiding places I could think of. My search revealed nothing.

The next two houses were similarly useless to my search. As I exited the second house, I heard some droids coming near. They were behind the corner, but there was no question that I would be seen. I had moments.

My mind raced. I could try to climb up to the roof, but without using the Force there wouldn't be time. I'd also make quite a bit of sound and alert others. As I panicked, something caught my eye. It was a drab cloak that was normally worn by the people of the slums, and that each of the droids was wearing. Feeling a flash of inspiration, I decided to throw it on and lay on the ground, concealing myself and pretending like I was passed out drunk.

The droids reached the alley, jabbering some random dialogue to make them seem more believable. The conversation paused as they examined me. I heard "useless drunk" and then footsteps as they kept on their way. My heart raced with excitement. Once I was sure that they passed, I got up and walked out into the open towards the third house. Keeping my head down, I walked by a few droids, but none commented on me. I made my way to the alley by the house and, when I made sure nobody was looking, I snuck my way into the home. I rifled through documents and, to my surprise, I found the picture. I pulled out my communicator, snapped a quick picture of the picture, checked it to make sure it was clear, and put it back before slipping out of the house and making my way to the main path. Once I was on the main path, I steadied myself, knowing that rushing would draw attention to myself. After what felt like an agonizingly long time, I finally made it out. I threw the dirty garb off of myself and sighed.

"Very good" Bool said, a smile on his insectoid face.

"Thank you, Master" I said with a smile of my own.

"Does it make sense now why you couldn't use the Force?" he asked me.

"No."

"You needed to think differently," he said. "The Force would have been a crutch here. You need to learn to think without it. If you can think without it, you can adapt it in much more creative, complex, and useful ways."

"I guess" I said. "I just don't know how often I'll be using those types of things."

"Oh, more than you think, young one. Trust me. I've been doing this long before you were even a twinkle in your mother's eye."

"That's a really strange saying."

Bool laughed. "My own father used to say that to me."

"You knew your parents?" I asked.

He nodded. "For a short time. I was a decade old when I was found by the Jedi. Almost didn't make it in. Grand Master Sorsee saw that I was strong in the Force, and let me in." He looked at me and said "Either way, you are the only family I have now."

"Me too" I said with a smile.

"Come on" he said. "You need to work on stalking prey in a swamp."

I groaned, and Bool laughed.


	54. Chapter 54

**-Kerlah-**

I groaned as I stretched my arms and looked at the slums of West Corbalant. I stepped onto the ramp from the small shuttle I was on and closed my eyes as I felt the breeze against my skin. I saw some people glance at the gleaming silver ship with curiosity, but most continued on their way.

The Jedi have an unwritten rule that all Padawans wear basic drab brown tunics. I hate them, and only wear mine when it's absolutely necessary. I tend to prefer wearing a long, sleeveless shirt which fit my frame and some soft elastic pants which hugged my legs, both of which worked to enhance my natural acrobatic ability.

I was currently wearing a dark orange shirt and black pants, and had a thin golden belt around my shirt at my waist, which is where my lightsaber was inconspicuously attached. My specialized commlink was on my left wrist. Completing the ensemble was my akul-tooth necklace.

I rubbed the lekku at my left shoulder. A nervous habit.

I stepped off of the shuttle and waved at the pilot to go. As it flew away, I could faintly see the capital ship Bool was on.

I smiled slightly and focused on the Force. I instantly felt Bool's presence. Bool had told me that he can feel the same with me, that anytime a Force user develops a bond with another living being, they can easily feel their Force presence no matter the distance between the two. The other person didn't have to be Force sensitive; he once told me that he had a pet he grew close with as a child and developed a bond with. With little effort, I sent him an image of me waving to him. A few moments passed, and then I saw in my mind Bool giving me a small wave.

I made my way into the slums of West Corbalant. A few looks were thrown my way, but I ignored them and continued on.

This was not my first solo assignment. I wasn't even a fully fledged Jedi, and I already had a reputation in the Order. It wasn't necessarily the best one, as my file clearly states that I am "disrespectful to superiors", "disregard Jedi custom", and "fail to behave in accordance with Jedi protocol", but I also rival Master Ansi in skill with investigative work.

I got to a dingy wooden house that was on stilts, turned on the voice recorder on my commlink, and knocked on the door. A crash came from inside, and the door was opened gruffly to reveal a portly, middle-aged male who I knew was a trashman. I watched his beady eyes as they looked me over and groaned inwardly, but managed to give him an innocent smile. Bool always told me that my looks were a gift that would allow me to do things he never could. Personally, I wasn't feeling it.

"What's a lady like you doing here?" he asked, and I was surprised that I could sense some concern in his voice. "This place isn't very safe for an attractive young woman like you."

"I'm looking into a recent accident at a hyperfuel refinery you performed the clean-up on. Owned by Stanco," I said, watching him carefully to see what he will do.

Fear appeared in his eyes, and he hurriedly nodded and said "Please. Come in." I stepped through and saw that the inside was about as dingy as the outside of the house. This man clearly put a lot of effort into making the best of his situation. The place was neatly cleaned and sparsely furnished. He moved to what passed as the living room, which had a small coffee table and a small couch with cushions that didn't all match. He straightened a spot on his couch, paused, and moved the coffee table further away from the couch and took a seat on it. He motioned for me to sit on the couch.

"Sorry. It's the most comfortable thing I've got" he said as I sat down.

"It's okay," I said. "What can you tell me about the accident?"

He shook his head. "Not an accident." He glanced at me quickly and said "What you are looking into is incredibly dangerous, and not something I recommend doing."

"Thank you for the concern, but I need to know what you know."

"Why?"

"I'm an investigative journalist" I said without thinking.

The man nodded and said "Okay. Well, it wasn't an accident. It was a cover-up. A big one. I was hired by someone. They said it was due to an explosion. I was paid in credits before the job, and then again after. It was under the table, but I didn't care. I needed the money. But there was no explosion when I arrived. The building was standing when I did the clean-up. The explosion happened afterwards."

I leaned forwards, intrigued. This was news.

He continued, "I was the only one that was hired. They provided a unit of droids to assist me. I had to go to give them orders and ensure that they got everything. When I got there, the building smelled awful. Absolutely awful. It was coming from this large room where the coaxium reserves were usually held. Except they weren't there. They were missing. All the lightbulbs in the room were broken. Little bits of glass were everywhere. And there was something else broken and littered around the place. Oh, and some strange grease spots on the floor. And vomit. Anyways, there was blood everywhere, and like fifty Junel were scattered around, all dead. Some were mangled up. Some had words carved into them. It was horrifying."

I internalized this for a moment before asking "Can you please describe the Junel? How they died? What they looked like? What their injuries were?"

He nodded and said "Well, there was one who had large gashes on his abdomen, and his limbs were mangled. Like he was attacked by an animal. One had the words 'Don't try. Soundproof' carved into them. Another had the words 'one by one' carved into them. One's skull was crushed completely. One had the words 'strike one' and another had the words 'strike two' carved into them. Then there were a bunch who had what looked like lightsaber wounds on them. Some looked like they were impaled by something. Some were ripped in half. And there was one that didn't seem to have anything wrong with them. No sign of death. They were just… dead. It was horrifying." He looked me dead in the eye and said "I've never heard of anything like this happening before. I've been terrified ever since that job. I'm terrified that this… this monster is going to come for me. And I'm afraid anybody who looks into it is going to be hunted down and killed."

I furrowed my brow. "Why do you think all of this will happen?"

He glanced around quickly and said "There were some Junel I was friends with. They had family who died in that. They went and started asking questions, and then were never seen again."

I nodded. "Okay. I believe you. I'll lay off, and see about notifying the officials to get someone to protect you."

He started shaking his head rapidly. "No protection. They're just as dangerous. They don't care about anyone in West Corbalant."

Slightly taken aback, I said "I want to help you. How can I?"

"The best thing for me is to keep my head down. Live like normal."

I didn't feel right not helping him, but I nodded and said "Thank you for the information, and thank you for your hospitality."

He jumped up with a grin and said "Happy to help how I can."

I left the house and turned off the commlink.

I frowned. That man mentioned some Junel that went missing, which sounded wholly unrelated to our current pursuit. We've been hunting the Renegades ever since Grand Master Sorsee made it our top priority two months ago. These missing Junel sounded wholly unrelated.

I walked quickly through the dark alleys until I spied a dark balcony. I Force-jumped onto it and pushed myself against the shadows. To the average passerby, I'd be practically invisible.

Before I could focus the Force to try and find any Junel, my commlink light began blinking. I pushed a button on the commlink, and a voice came in through the earpiece.

"Evening, Commander" a familiar male voice said.

"Lance," I said carefully. "I was hoping to never hear your voice again."

"I deserve that."

"You're a monster."

"That I don't deserve. How am I a monster?"

"You kill people."

"Don't pretend to see the world in black and white."

"Doesn't change the fact that you're a monster."

"You don't get to choose the hand you're dealt," he said with a low edge to his voice.

"Why are you calling me?"

"I heard that you're looking for a rogue Jedi."

I stiffened. "How do you know that?"

"I have my sources."

I huffed slightly. "Yes, your source is correct. What's it to you?"

"I have information."

Of course he did. "You want to tell me what it is?"

"Now why would I do that?"

"Out of the goodness of your heart?"

"I'm a monster, remember? There's no goodness in my heart."

"Then what do you want?"

"To help."

"And why would you do that?"

"Let's say I have a vested interest. Come to the bar near the river."

"What?" I asked, surprised.

"I know you're in West Corbalant. Come to the bar near the river."

"How do you-"

"I have my sources. You want my help? Come to the bar near the river. You have 20 minutes." With that, he ended the call.

My heart raced. Lance was dangerous. Incredibly so. This could easily be a trap.

And yet, part of me didn't believe that it was. Lance and I had history, and he has had numerous opportunities to kill me, and yet he didn't. He spared me at every turn. And if he tried to kill me, I'd kill him first. I was much stronger now than I was a year ago.

Feeling lucky, I jumped up onto the roof of the building and looked for the bar.

* * *

I walked in and immediately knew why Lance had chosen this bar. The crowd was rough, the floor dirty, the alcohol cheap. Just his kind of place.

Quite a few eyes turned as I walked in, but I managed to make it to the bar without any issues. I casually looked around the room, trying to catch a glimpse of Lance, but was unable to find him.

A hand grabbed my butt, and I immediately grabbed the arm, twisted the person around, and shoved them to the ground. My response was lightning fast, and all eyes turned to us.

"What the kriff?!" the mook yelled at me, struggling to register exactly what happened.

Three individuals who I assumed to be friends of my harasser started threateningly coming towards me before someone in the crowd quickly grabbed one of them, quickly kicked another's knee in, and threw the guy he grabbed into the third.

"You couldn't help yourself, could you," Lance remarked.

I threw the guy I had down and stared sharply at him.

The last time I saw him he coldly ended the life of a Jedi right in front of me as I lay there, paralyzed by a nonlethal neurotoxin and unable to stop him.

"Come on" he said as he made his way to the exit. I hesitated slightly, but followed him out the door.

"It's good to see you," he said as he started quickly clambering his way up onto the roof of the bar. I Force jumped up and crossed my arms as he reached me. He looked at me, a crooked smile on his face, and said "You've gotten better at that."

He stood on the roof and looked into the water. "You look good" he said.

I refused to acknowledge his words, but a part of me wanted to tell him that he looked good too. His blonde hair was cut shorter than before and he was clean shaven, but he was still Lance. He still had that scar on his left eyebrow that split it in half. I could see a large scar on the left side of his neck. A scar that I'd put there.

He noticed me looking, smiled, and lightly touched the scar. "You leave one hell of a mark, you know."

"I wish I'd killed you" I said coldly.

He raised an eyebrow. "And I'm the monster."

"You used me. You betrayed me."

"I never wanted to hurt you. I had an objective."

"You used me."

"I… look, you… you weren't supposed to happen. I was going to lie, become friends with a Padawan, use their info, and leave. It was all going to take a couple of months. Four at most. Then I was going to leave without a second thought. The only reason it took me two whole years to finish it was because of you."

"You lied to me. A lot."

"You think I don't regret it?"

"I think you don't care about anybody but yourself, and that won't ever change."

He faltered. It was a brief, yet clear show that what I said actually hurt him. Either that, or it was an act to get me to trust him.

"You said you had information. Spill" I said harshly.

"Only if I work with you," he said quickly.

"Like hell you are. I'm never spending any more time with you than I have to."

He stepped towards me, and I instinctively stepped back. "Fine. I have an...objective I need to accomplish, and I believe that working with you will benefit us both."

"I'm not going to let you kill another innocent person."

"He was hardly innocent. That Jedi I eliminated killed quite a few innocent people."

"He had good reasons."

"So did I."

"A good reason for stabbing me in the back?"

He winced. "I never wanted to do that."

"But you did."

He started to protest, but stopped himself. He took a step back and said "The past is the past, and we can't change it. Right now, our goals align."

"And what would those goals be?"

"Finding the rogue Jedi."

"I won't let you kill him."

"My job isn't to kill anyone. I was hired to find the Mandalorian he's with and bring her to my employer."

"Who's your employer?"

"That's classified," he responded.

"Of course it is."

"If we work together, we could-"

"No" I said sharply. "No way in hell am I going to work with you. I would rather die."

He nodded and said "Fine. I'll see you around," before walking to the edge of the roof and hopping down.

**-Sadie-**

I sprinted through the halls to the med bay, narrowly dodging some clones and Burhaj that were walking around. I ran through the doors and stopped when I saw Darin was squirming inside of the bacta tank, and a yellow light flashed and the monitors beeped loudly.

M5 was scurrying around the bacta tank while Ster pushed buttons and a Mirialan was handing M5 different vials.

"What's happening to him?" I asked, slightly panicked.

"He's waking up, which should not be happening," M5 responded.

"Why not? Isn't that a good thing?"

M5 grabbed a vial from the Mirialan and injected it into a tube. "It usually is. But he's in a bacta tank and he's been intubated. If he comes to with a tube in his throat, he'll rip it out, and possibly do a lot more damage. Additionally, ripping out the tube will take the mask off, and he could easily drown in the tank. So we are trying to sedate him so we can do everything safely."

"It isn't working" Ster said matter-of-factly. "No matter how much sedative we push, no matter which kind, it isn't working."  
"Are you sure the sedative is getting into his system?" I asked.

"We tested it prior to administering the sedatives, and a few times in between attempts. It's getting into his system" Ster said.

M5 said "What his body is doing should not be possible."

"Is it his Force sensitivity?" I asked.

M5 shook his head. "I don't know. I was able to administer meds without a problem with you, but he's very different from you."

The lights started flashing red and the monitors started emitting a loud, shrill, shrieking noise. I stared in shock as I saw Darin's eyes open and he began to reach for the mask on his face.

M5, with new alarm in his robotic voice, yelled "Deflate the balloon!" at Ster and then started attaching an emergency tube to the bacta tank. Ster pushed a button, and the Mirialan girl started clearing the vials that were on the little table near the bacta tank.

I gagged when Darin grabbed the mask on his face, yanked it off, and then pulled what looked like a meter of tubing out of his throat. His eyes widened suddenly as he inhaled bacta fluid and he began thrashing about wildly. Cracks began forming on the glass, and I realized what was going to happen.

"Tube is good! Begin draining!" M5 yelled.

The bacta tank exploded and shrapnel went flying in every direction. Instinctively, I threw up some Force barriers in front of everyone. Darin's body slumped forwards onto the floor and he began violently coughing. I let the Force barriers down and rushed towards him. A disgusting noise left his throat and the bacta fluid spewed out of his mouth. His muscles trembled as he heaved for air, and I knelt next to him and put a hand on his wet back. He turned and weakly looked at me, his eyes teared up from his coughing fit, and started laughing before falling into another coughing fit.

_Help me_, rang out in my head, the Force signature very clearly Darin's, and he started struggling to his feet. I wrapped an arm around him and helped hoist him to a standing position.

"Is he okay?" the Mirialan girl asked.

M5 said "I have no idea. Everything that just happened defies anything that should be physiologically possible for any organism." A sudden beeping from another patient prompted him to quickly attend another patients needs

"What exactly is he?" Ster asked.

"A kriffing mess is what I am" Darin said weakly before doubling into another coughing fit, blood spraying from his mouth onto the floor. He let go of me and tried to walk forwards on his own, but lost his balance and buckled. Ster and I's quick reactions kept him from falling to the ground. We carefully eased him to a bed, and thankfully he didn't try to stand back up.

"What is that?" Bree asked when she noticed the tattoo on Darin's left forearm.

"Personal. Who are you two?" Darin asked.

"I am Ster Bureem. This is Bree Allstone."

Darin waved his hand. "Yes, but who ARE you two?"

"They're allies" I said. "They joined us after we rescued them on Tatooine."

Darin got a glassy look in his eyes before he quickly reached for an empty bedpan and vomited into it. After a few seconds of him retching into the bedpan, he shuddered, put the bedpan to the side and said "I don't recommend swallowing bacta fluid." A very weak smile followed. I sat on the bed next to him and put an arm on his back. He leaned on my shoulder and closed his eyes, his body shuddering occasionally.

"That Mirialan girl is Force sensitive" he mumbled.

"Bree? Yea, we know" Ster said.

Darin opened his eyes and looked at Ster. "So. We came to your rescue and you joined our cause. Why was the Alliance trying to kill you?"

Ster hesitated before saying "I was the leader of a Spec Ops group in the Alliance. We, along with the Vindicator, defected."

He nodded before asking "Who's she then?"

"Someone who got caught in the crossfire, and who means a lot to the Vindicator."

"And Vindicator is…?"

"The best warrior of our kind."

"Right." Moving faster than I thought he was physically able to, Darin stopped leaning on me and got off the bed. He wobbled slightly, but managed to hold himself upright. I went to help him, but he held his hand up. He took a few slow careful steps, wobbling slightly, before he started picking up the pace. Soon he was briskly walking around the med bay.

Ster stared at him, his jaw open in shock. "That recovery speed shouldn't be possible," he said.

"You've got no idea," I said.


End file.
